'Foul, eggy odour' - the smell stopping children playing outside in Bury

Imagine not being able to go outside and play because of a smell in the air.

Well that's the situation some children living in Bury have been experiencing for months.

It's all because of a gassy stench that's being released by a place used to get rid of rubbish called landfill.

Valencia Waste, which runs the site at Pilsworth South near Bury, has apologised and has promised to sort the problem.

The landfill site has been causing quite the stench.

The scent has been described as a "foul, eggy odour", a bit like when the food bin at home isn't emptied for a while, but much stronger.

People living in towns miles away say they are sometimes unable to open their windows or doors.

Those whose homes are closer say the smell sometimes gets in even with no fresh air coming in. There have also been lots of flies around.

Locals say the smell gets so strong sometimes that they can't enjoy walking their dogs or putting their washing outside to dry.

Mum of five Nikki says her children have been affected: "They don't spend time outside they just go where they need to go so they're not hanging around", she explained.

Local councillor Angela Brown says lots of people are getting in touch with her about it and she has been calling on the Environment Agency to take action.

"People want to know if this is impacting their health and affecting their children. I've had people tell me that they're physically gagging."

The Environment Agency, which in charge of protecting people and nature from health risks, says the problem has been caused by the top of the landfill being pulled back so the smells can escape.

Since the department stepped in, 90,000 square metres of waste, that's around nine times the size of a football pitch, has been covered to try and stop the unpleasant odours from getting out.

More equipment has also been put in place to capture the gas released by the rubbish.