Unpleasant odour continues to plague coastal town

The cause of the intermittent smell affecting the town remains unknown

A coastal town in Essex is still being affected by a mysterious unpleasant odour.

The smell in Brightlingsea has been intermittently present for more than a year, but the exact cause of it remains unknown.

Residents said it smelled like chemicals or sewage, with some reporting headaches, nausea and breathing problems.

Tendring District Council said it would continue to investigate the persistent pong.

Local resident Jane said the smell had been bad for the past year and a half.

"There are two distinct smells and I think this is one of the confusions," she said.

"There's a smell that is like hydrogen sulphide and then there's a smell of extreme putrification, like rotting garbage, that's really, really vile.

"It's not a farmyard smell, it's completely different.

"It was really bad last summer and it's getting bad again now."

She added that the odour had been causing people to wake up in the middle of the night.

Tendring District Council's cabinet member for environment, Mike Bush, said: "Our Environmental Health team has already been investigating possible causes of this odour in Brightlingsea, including engaging with Anglian Water and the Environment Agency on the areas which they are responsible for.

"At this time the source of this occasional smell remains unknown, and we will continue working with our partners to locate and then address the issue, which we fully appreciate is not pleasant for residents or visitors.

"This may not be a quick process due to the irregular pattern of the odour, but as part of that investigation we will be making repeat visits over the next few weeks.

"I am aware some residents believe a specific business is responsible for the odour; and while we cannot yet be certain on the cause of the smell, neither we, nor the Environment Agency in a recent monitoring visit, have found evidence to back-up this claim."

In a statement, Anglian Water said: "We are aware of the odour and have investigated at our Water Recycling Centre and we know there is no issue there.

"We are continuing to investigate and will update when we know more."

The Environment Agency has been contacted for comment.