Raw sewage was running into a High Wycombe beauty spot popular with walkers “for weeks” – after a fatberg made up of wet wipes and other unflushable items blocked a drain.

Keep Hill Wood, which was declared a local wildlife site in May 2011 because of its value for wildlife, had foul smelling waste flowing down into it and a number of complaints were raised.

Simon Noakes complained to both Wycombe District Council and Chiltern Rangers about the “awful sewage smelling groundwater” which he said was coming from the direction of the old RAF site, on June 12.

He added: “Not only stinks but may affect local wildlife”.

On June 14 he asked if any action was being taken as it was “still flowing and smell getting worse and reaching further into the top of Lowdon Close”.

Chiltern Rangers, who help manage the site, said they were alerted to the leak late on Wednesday, June 12, and said the leak was “unacceptable”.

Keep Hill Wood boasts an array of wildlife, including at least two badger setts, Chiltern speciality, the nationally scarce coral-root bittercress, wild carrot, oyster fungi, deer and wild parsnip and is popular with walkers.

Thames Water were notified about the issue and visited the site to discover the source of the problem – and it has been revealed that the leak was caused by a blockage in the drain.

They told the Bucks Free Press the blockage was essentially a fatberg – a solid congealed mass formed in sewers and made up of things like wet wipes, sanitary items, grease or cooking fat.

Fatbergs block pipes and can cause sewage to back up into homes, businesses and public spaces, and pollute waterways and the wider environment.

A spokesman said: “We were called out to clear a sewer blockage which was caused by wet wipes and other unflushable items being put down the toilet. We’ve now removed this and will return shortly to properly clean the sewer.

“A full clean-up of the surrounding area will also take place.

“This incident highlights the importance of taking care with what is put down the toilet. Our simple message is only the three Ps, pee, poo and paper, should be flushed and with everything else – bin it, don’t block it.”

Thames Water currently spends around £1 million a month clearing blockages from their drains across the Thames Valley.

And in July 2017, Marlow was named a “fatberg hotspot” as Thames Water revealed that 30 homes in the town had been flooded with sewage as a result of fat and wipe blockages in the sewers.

It prompted them to launch their ‘Bin it – don’t block it’ campaign to encourage those putting fat down the drain, and wipes down the toilet, to understand the impact of their behaviour.