'Rancid' smell in town caused by landfill liquids

Leachate is a liquid that comes from landfill

A "disgusting" and "rancid" smell upsetting town residents has been identified as ponds of waste liquid that have collected at a nearby landfill.

The aromas drifting across Didcot from the facility near Sutton Courtenay have been described to the BBC by locals as smelling like sewage, manure, or "a bin that hasn’t been changed in a very long time".

The Environment Agency (EA) said it was caused by a liquid, known as leachate, which drains from landfill sites.

Owner FCC Environment said it was monitoring the situation.

The company said: "FCC realises a number of complaints have been made and FCC staff continue to carry out daily monitoring on site using specialist monitoring equipment, and several odour inspections are completed each day off site."

The EA said: "We recognise the nuisance that unpleasant odours from the site are causing to local residents and have directed FCC to remove the ponded leachate, which is the main cause of odour issues.

"The number of tanker lorries removing the leachate has increased, and we have approved the temporary use of a leachate treatment plant on site which will help reduce levels quicker.

"Our officers are in regular contact with FCC to ensure they prioritise this issue of odour and we will continue to inspect the site and do odour surveys.

"Unfortunately, while leachate is being treated and removed over the coming month, the landfill may continue to generate nuisance odours."

'Really concerning'

Olly Glover, the new MP for Didcot and Wantage, said he had received several complaints about the issue.

He said: "For residents who want to spend time in their gardens at this time of year – and plenty of people notice it inside their houses if they’ve got windows open – it is something that is really concerning people, and not something you want to put up with every day."

He said he would push the waste management company to announce a timescale on when the smell would be gone, and to improve communication with residents.

The 290.5 hectare site at Appleford Sidings opened in 1980 and is estimated to take more than 350,000 tonnes of waste each year.

It is not the first time Didcot residents have had to put up with bad smells from the site. Landfill blazes in 2018 and 2022 also created quite the pong.