Families turn noses up at Cannock landfill smells

Families are kicking up a stink over bad smells coming from a Cannock landfill site, claiming that they have to keep their windows and doors shut.

Residents living near the Biffa site say their lives are being made a misery.

Families on the Newlands Park estate in Heath Hayes said they have been experiencing the "horrendous" smells for months and are embarrassed to invite visitors.

Bosses at the site said they are aware of the complaints after launching a new facility for food waste last year.

Anne Willis, a 42 year-old office worker who lives in Nuthatch Close, said: "Every few days we get the most horrendous smell. It smells like raw sewage, it is absolutely disgusting.

"We can't open out windows or doors its that bad.

"Nothing they have done has stopped the residents from here suffering.

"We have lived here five years and never had any problems with the landfill.

"If you have visitors they say 'what is this smell?'. It is embarrassing and making our lives miserable. A lot of people are angry about it."

Biffa's anaerobic digestion facility at Cannock processes up to 120,000 tons of food waste from homes and businesses every year.

They say they are working with the Environment Agency and implementing strict door opening policies, daily checks of potential odour sources and neutralising units to minimise odour escaping.

Cannock site manager Kan Ni said: "We are aware of residents' complaints regarding odours, and we are working to investigate and resolve the problem.

"Whilst odours are not a continuous problem, unfortunately from time to time we find that some odours do escape from the plant.

"We produce a soil improver which has potential to cause odour. The odour could be more significant in the current warm ambient conditions.

"We are now addressing this through physical containment and ensuring timely offsite removal to spread onto farm lands.

"We encourage the local community to let us know if they have any problems."

By Craig Hughes