People who moved onto estate next to landfill shocked that it smells

Walley’s Quarry landfill site in Silverdale, Stafffordshire which continues to spew putrid fumes despite years of complaints (Picture: Emma Trimble/SWNS)

Residents living next to a landfill have demanded an investigation into why their town smells like rotten rubbish.

Locals in Walley’s Quarry, Staffordshire, say the fumes from a nearby landfill site leave a foul odour, seriously affecting their quality of life.

The smell has become so bad waste deliveries have been suspended to try and ease the stench.

But more than 1,000 complaints about smells wafting into peoples’ homes are made every month.

Fed-up locals are now demanding the Environment Agency investigates the smells which are caused by the release of hydrogen sulphide gas.

Mum-of-two Audrey Young, 48, who lives a mile away from the site, said: ‘It’s like you’re being gassed in your own home. It causes a lot health implications.

‘We’ve got the highest rate of breathing difficulties in the country. We’ve got the highest number of COPD and lung cancer rates.

‘There’s medical waste and animal waste from abattoirs. My daughter gets nose bleeds because of it and we’ve had to get air purifiers which are expensive.

Audrey Young said her (Picture: Emma Trimble / SWNS)

Residents fear they are being ‘poisoned in their own homes'(Picture: Emma Trimble/SWNS)

‘We can’t go into our gardens in the summer. As well as that we can’t invite people to our homes. We get embarrassed. It’s mortifying.’

A protest group called Stop the Stink was launched to pressure authorities to take action, but has so far been unsuccessful.

Simmo Burgess, 45, who lives in nearby Knutton, joined the campaign group in 2019.

The dad-of-three said: ‘Eggy, sulphur, rotting flesh smells. It makes your eyes sting.

‘The gases from the landfill site have been proven to be consistently above WHO guidelines.

Simmo Burgess outside Walleys Quarry landfill site (Picture: Emma Trimble / SWNS)

‘The gases seep into our homes, with windows and doors shut.It causes nausea and headaches.

‘Just driving and walking around the area, you can hit a ‘pocket’ if gas which can take your breath away and make your eyes stream.’

The Environment Agency suspended deliveries to the site in March after odour complaints hit 4,210 in February.

Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council have asked the Government for permission to take legal action against the site.

Councillor Andy Fear said the process would now be delayed by next month’s general election.

Council leader Simon Tagg said the quarry was not being run ‘in a good way to stop the odours coming out, and that’s always been the case’.

A spokesperson for Walleys Quarry said the site was ‘stringently regulated by the Environment Agency to ensure the onsite activities do not cause harm to human health or the environment’.

They added that the site ‘continually inspected the waste deliveries and activities on the landfill to ensure that odour risks are managed, minimised and eradicated’.

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