Disgusted homeowners have described an ‘absolutely putrid’ stink as one councillor sniffed out the source in the hope a solution can be found.
The ‘sewage’ stench has emerged at Racefield Meadow at the bottom of Dugdale Drive in Warndon Villages with the issue brought to public attention in the Warndon Villages Community Group.
Residents, writing on the Facebook group, said the problem had been there ‘for months’ and described the smell as ‘just rancid’ and ‘absolutely disgusting’ while some said it even scares off visitors.
The stink has been affecting a widespread area near Racefield Meadow, including Lister Avenue and Rowntree Gardens.
Residents have identified the foul smell as emanating from near the footpath between Newtown Road and the bottom of Dugdale Drive.
Cllr Andrew Cross, a Green Party county councillor for Leopard Hill, followed his nose and visited the site himself to gauge the extent of the issue.
He believes the stink may be caused by a partially blocked sewage pipe.
The issue will create even more of a stink after environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey exposed dangerous levels of E.coli in the River Severn and phosphate levels six times higher than the Environment Agency’s upper limit.
Severn Trent told LBC, which ran an article, that ‘one-off tests like this can be misleading with the risk of wrong conclusions being drawn’.
However, Cllr Cross said: “Many local residents are justifiably concerned about pollution in local rivers and watercourses. A recent survey by Feargal Sharkey found gruesome contamination levels of E.coli in the river Severn.
“Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, and not just a local issue. The Rivers Trust have an online map showing the sewage discharges into UK rivers last year. It makes grim reading.”
He told residents he had reported the matter to Severn Trent Water and was told an engineer would attend any time over the next six days between 8am and 10pn daily.