The landfill stench which plagued Fleetwood last year is back, say residents

And the Environment Agency told a resident who complained about the sickening smell - linked to the Fleetwood Landfill site at Jameson Road - that there had been a spike in complaints since after New Year.

The Agency monitored the site last year and ordered operators Transwaste Ltd to suspend activities for a number of months before issues linked to the emissions were put right.

But Fleetwood resident Jess Brown, part of a campaign group Action Against Jameson road Landfill which protested about the emissions last year, said that after a period of respite from the problems in recent months, the issue has now returned as strongly as ever in the past few days.

Jess, 34, who lives off Copse Road, said: “The landfill odour has returned intensely over the past few days, causing residents to experience discomfort and remain indoors.

“This situation is deeply discouraging. It is also getting into the houses again.

“My daughter is very poorly at the moment with a nasty virus where she is sleeping all the time.

“Her virus has not been caused by the landfill but the smell is getting into our house and its making her feel even worse. There are so many people suffering again because of this place.”

The landfill gas , predominantly composed of carbon dioxide and methane, also includes hydrogen sulphide, known for the rotten eggs odour which is causing so much disturbance to residents.

The Environment Agency, in an email to Jess Brown, said: “We have received a spike in odour reports in the last few days (42 since January 4).

“We were on the site on Wednesday (January 8) and noted mild waste odours on-site at the time with no notable change to operational conditions.”

A representative of Transwaste also informed Jess by email that “the weather conditions are obviously not helping with regard to both freezing of pipeline and g holding of odour at low level.

“We will now be focussing resources to the application of additional levels of suitable cover material over the full operational cell area today to ensure all available measures are being utilised to minimise the potential for odour release.”

Last year Action Against Jameson road Landfill staged a number of placard protests to highlight the problems facing residents and also staged a number of public meetings to discuss updates.

Jess said that if the latest emissions continued the group would do so again.

The Environment Agency says it will continue to monitor the situation closely and have made Wyre Council aware of the rise in complaints.

The Agency says residents should continue to report instances of odour pollution through to it on the incident hotline 0800 80 70 60.