London’s new £5bn super sewer has been fully connected and is already stopping half a million tonnes of sewage from entering the River Thames, the firm behind it has said.

After 10 years of construction work, the last of the 21 connections of the Thames Tideway Tunnel was made to the city’s Victorian sewage system.

The 16-mile (25km) pipe will divert 34 of the most-polluting sewage outflows that have been discharging into the Thames.

Tideway chief executive Andy Mitchell said: “This is another significant step forward – with this final connection complete, the super sewer is fully up and running and protecting the Thames.”

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