Investigation over 'Birmingham abattoir stench'

Birmingham City Council said its environmental health team had received complaints from traders about Mr Meats

A watchdog says an investigation has begun as firms in part of Birmingham say they are fed up with a stench they claim has emanated from an abattoir.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it had started the inquiry over Mr Meats in Digbeth. There has been a series of complaints about the business.

A video from August at the entrance to the yard showed what appeared to be sheep carcasses and offal.

Mr Meats said some smell and unpleasantness was "inevitable".

Photos from March showed a yard apparently covered in blood with remains piled in a corner.

Owner of Sheesha Lounge next door Zeeshan Moustapha said: "We get a general stench that circulates the area constantly and it's just causing a serious issue to our business. It's just disgusting really."

Richard Crofts, whose family runs a nearby factory, first complained to the council in 2006 but said he had been "passed from pillar to post."

He said: "The main responses we've had is as we're non residential we don't count.

'Unpleasantness inevitable'

"We pay rates, we pay our taxes, so we have as much of a say as the residents here and if the residents aren't able to speak out, we're more than happy to speak out for them."

Birmingham City Council said its environmental health team had received complaints from traders about Mr Meats "the details of which have been shared with the FSA for further investigation".

A spokesman for the abattoir said vehicles belonging to neighbouring businesses had "blocked access, preventing the removal of animal waste in a timely and efficient manner".

He said there had been an abattoir on the site for the past 40 years and "some smell and unpleasantness is inevitable".