Residents cry foul over 'fishy smell' in village

Residents from a village in Nottinghamshire have complained they are being plagued by "a fishy smell".

The Environment Agency has confirmed it is investigating the cause of "bad smells" in Trowell and neighbouring Ilkeston in Derbyshire, and urged members of the public to report any instances.

Don Pringle, Broxtowe borough and Trowell parish councillor, said issues with smells in the area stretched back to the 1990s.

Erewash Borough Council also confirmed it had received complaints and its investigations "are ongoing".

In 2018 a Facebook group called Smelly Trowell was set up for people to log complaints, and Pringle said issues continued during the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the establishment of a multi-agency meeting to organise a clean-up.

He said the problem "has been particularly bad" over the past few weeks, with reports of "a pungent, fishy smell" made from as far away as Bramcote and Sandiacre.

"You can feel it in your nostrils - it's sort of like a little twinge," he said.

"We've had a number of years of it being not too bad, but just recently in the last fortnight or so I've had 25 complaints sent to me, and they're just the ones that people have actually registered.

"There are other people I can see from social media that are complaining, but not everybody files it, they just sort of talk about it rather than do something.

"My feelings are that what we really need to know is what's happening as a result of these odours and dust, because if you read on them, in quantities they can be quite toxic, and what I'm thinking about is children at school."

Helen Graham, a retired English teacher, said she was "fed up" with reporting the issue to the authorities and is trying to organise residents to get something done.

The 64-year-old said the smell had been getting even worse in recent weeks, adding it "generally makes you feel really poorly".

"[It] goes from being mild background smell to full-on chemical rancid fish, to the point where it's impossible to have your windows open," she said.

"It's been really difficult for us all... last week was the worst we've known in the 30-odd years that we've lived here, and I've just decided I've had enough."

Sue Camm, 78, has lived in Trowell for 55 years, and is worried about the impact on health.

"I think it doesn't help with illnesses," she said. "It smells, your clothes smell, and everything smells."

Angela Crawford, 72 and a Trowell resident for 43 years, said she wanted authorities to get to the bottom of the source of what is a consistent irritation.

"You can wake up at night, in your bed, windows closed, and you can smell it," she said.

"[It makes me] want to be sick, I want to heave.

"When the Environment Agency lady on the telephone asks 'on a scale of one to 10, how bad is it?', 11 is my answer."

Mark Alfrey, Erewash Borough Council's lead member for environment, said: "We have heard complaints from residents regarding a fishy smell in the area surrounding the Quarry Hill Industrial Estate and are working with local businesses and our partners at the Environment Agency to address it.

"Investigations are ongoing and visits have been conducted by Erewash Borough Council officers to try to identify the odour and its source.

"We appreciate residents letting us know about this."

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