I stay in Britain’s smelliest city – the stench is so unhealthy I left for 4 days

A woman living in Britain’s smelliest town said she was forced to leave for four days last week to get away from the stench. Nicola Burns said the stink from the landfill site in Fleetwood, Lancs., was so bad she took her kids to Essex to escape it.

The tip in Jameson Road has sparked more than 20,000 complaints from fed up locals in recent years and they say the smell is “worse than ever” and affecting their health.

And Nicola said she took her kids to Essex, a four and half hour drive, as they couldn’t play outdoors due to the odious odour.

She told the BBC: “Something needs to be done – it is absolutely horrendous at the minute. I was up last night with my little one and the smell coming through the house was absolutely dreadful, one of the worst I’ve actually known.

“We just can’t even go outside in it. I even took myself off to Essex for four days with the children this week because it’s just so bad. There’s nothing we can do with them outdoors.”

Residents and a local MP have previously called for the closure of the landfill site and dozens of people recently protested in mock-up hazmat suits.

Complaints were first raised in 2024 when it started emitting a rotten egg smell. And they hit an all time high of almost 4,000 last month, the Environment Agency said in a response to a BBC Freedom of Information request.

The facility’s operator Transwaste had been due to start installing permanent capping last week to tackle the issue, but work was delayed due to bad weather.

Nicola said Barnet fans visiting the seaside resort for their game against Fleetwood Town had also complained about the “disgusting” smell. She added: “They were absolutely mortified at the smell, and that’s people travelling into our town.

“They were asking questions: ‘How are you managing to live in this?’ And the answer is ‘Well, we’re not’. You think you’re coming to a little seaside town and it’s going to be all nice but it’s absolutely not.”

The Environment Agency) said it was pressing Transwaste to install the barrier as soon as possible, which helps to control gas and keep smells in. It said its officers were “on the ground, actively monitoring the situation”.

Transwaste said the air quality in the area was “well within World Health Organization safety limits”. It said it also was “working as quickly as possible during the periods of good weather”.

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