Search on for source of Watchet stink

Watchet town council says the smell is not as bad as reports suggest

Engineers are searching for the mysterious source of a "rotten cabbage" smell which is plaguing a resort in Somerset.

Residents say the "Watchet stink" has a compost-like odour and has been lingering for five years, becoming worse on hot days.

Wessex Water has sent in experts to track down the source of the smell.

Director Dr Julian Dennis said: "We've been up, down and through the system and can't find anything."

Town council officials are keen to play down the smell, which has attracted national newspaper headlines such as "a reek at the seaside".

Council chairman Sally De Renzy-Martin said: "The way I read one of the newspapers, one felt we were covered in a blanket of odour.

"This is not true."