'Foul, medieval stench' from sewage works making Cradley Heath residents' houses 'smell like toilets 24/7'
Residents on a Sandwell street have accused the operators of a local sewage works of "neglecting" the site, due to a "foul, medieval stench" emanating from it.
Houses on Forge Lane, in Cradley Heath, are in close proximity to a Severn Trent sewage pumping station, but residents say the "stench" has only recently escalated to an "unbearable" level.
The smell over the past few weeks is said to have been so strong that residents say their houses "smell like a toilet 24/7".
Local resident, Phil Penn, told the Express & Star: "I've lived here about nine years and it's been fine, and every now and again in the summer we get the smell for a few hours.
"But over the last few weeks since we've had the heat, it's been just constant for us. It's overpowering. All the neighbours are complaining about it, but Severn Trent told me no one else has complained.
"It's like something from medieval times, just the stench of it. We have to lock the windows and if we don't, you'll walk into the kitchen and it'll just smell like raw horrible sewage."
