We want to get it out there just how much people - and children - here are suffering

A protest march against a stinking landfill site in Fleetwood is expected to gather one of its biggest turnouts yet as long-suffering residents are ‘at breaking point’.

Campaigners say there has been an increase in complaints about children suffering from nosebleeds and severe headaches after the vile stench returned "worse than ever" in the past two weeks.

The protesters feel they are being ignored and just allowed to suffer not only the nauseating stink but whatever side effects the chemical emissions could be causing.

The rotten egg stench is being caused by releases of the gas hydrogen sulphide, while methane gas is also escaping from the site.

Jameson Road landfill waas reopened by Transwaste Recycling & Aggregates Limited in late 2023, after the previous owners Suez stopped accepting waste in 2017.

Campaigners say the site should never have been reopened in the first place and should now be closed with immediate effect.

Transwaste Recycling & Aggregates Limited should not be confused with the similarly-named but unrelatedTranswaste Limited, which works in the water treament industry and is based in Ammanford, Wales.

When is the march?

The march down Jameson Road in Fleetwood takes place on Friday March 27, beginning at 10am.

Jess Brown, of Action Against Jameson road Landfill, said: “We are expecting a large turnout because the community has reached breaking point.

“There have been many comments in the group about children suffering from coughs and migraines and nosebleeds, people ending up in hospital, and residents with COPD who are struggling to breathe.

“We feel we are being totally ignored and failed and we want to get it out there just how much people in our community are suffering, and raise awareness of how bad the situation has become.

“The toxic stench has been out of control lately - the worst ever in the two years this has been happening.”

Jess said residents felt they were being failed by the Environment Agency, which granted Transwaste R&A its permit and continues to monitor the site; failed by Lancashire County Council, which approved planning permission for the site to be repened; and by landowner Wyre Council, which allowed the lease and is also the local authority.

She added: "Instead of looking out for the wellbeing of residents, it feels they are more interested in making excuses. It's a disgrace we are putting up with this when all these organisations—and Transwaste—know full well how we are suffering.”

What they say

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We understand how distressing the odours from the Jameson Road landfill site have been for local residents. We are maintaining an increased regulatory response and require Transwaste to take all necessary steps to comply fully with its environmental permit.

“Where we identify breaches of permit, we follow up with regulatory action as needed. We will continue to keep residents and the local community updated through a variety of engagement activities.”

A Transwaste R&A spokesman said: “Transwaste is an environmentally responsible company that takes its statutory and environmental obligations extremely seriously, and the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of regulated tasks we undertake each year are completed in full compliance with our permits.”