Thames Water criticised as odour plagues residents

People living near Camberley Sewage Treatment Works have complained about an odour

A council has criticised a water supplier over its handling of a "foul odour" plaguing residents living near a sewage plant.

Surrey Heath Borough Council said Thames Water had "failed repeatedly to put in place reliable, suitable and sufficient odour mitigation measures".

The source of the smell was established as a large tank of untreated sewage moved onto the site from other locations as an emergency measure.

Thames Water has apologised and said it was processing the extra sludge "as quickly as we can".

In a statement, the council said people living near Camberley Sewage Treatment Works first made complaints about the smell in mid June.

Resident Thomas George said the smell was "really, really unpleasant".

"You don't want to open the windows, you feel like you're trapped indoors, you put your washing on the line, your washing smells of it. Everything smells of it."

Councillor Morgan Rise said the issue "should never have happened in the first place, and has gone on far too long, blighting so many people’s summer".

He added the resolution of the problem and handling of the complaints was "entirely Thames Water's responsibility".

Promises given by Thames Water "have not been met", the council said

The council said it wrote to Thames Water to take "urgent action", and also contacted Surrey County Council and the Environment Agency about concerns.

The authority added that councillors and officers had visited to site "to check if all practical action was being taken by Thames Water to resolve the problem".

A spokesperson for Thames Water said it was processing the extra sludge so it could be removed from the site.

“This will enable us to clean the sewage storage tanks over the next few weeks and will ensure odour levels return to normal.

"We also have a 24-hour odour suppression system in place to help minimise the smell," the company added.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “Specialist officers have been on site this week and are working with the company to ensure that as part of the site’s operation, odour is controlled and does not cause a nuisance."