'Stinky tip still making me very sick', says resident

A couple who say they are in a "living nightmare" because of a "terrible smell" coming from a landfill site have rejected the findings of an official report which stated it was not a health hazard.

Ian Durn and his partner Christine Butterworth, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), said they feared returning to their Fleetwood home after spending a month at a family property in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Last week the Environment Agency (EA) said the site in Jameson Road met safety standards.

"I don't know where they have got that idea from," said 73-year-old Mr Durn, who stressed there were some days when the stench got so bad that his partner "just can't breathe".

Earlier this year, he said: "We are dreading going back if we have more hot weather as we won't be able to have the windows open.

"We have a house [that] is difficult to live in but we still have all of our bills."

Campaigner Alison Roe, who wants more research to be carried out on the site, was also sceptical of the EA's findings.

"I don't believe it," she said. "People are still being made ill by the stench coming from the landfill site.

"People are still having headaches, people are still feeling nauseous."

While Ms Roe said the smell was not as bad as it once, she added: "It is still there – different parts of town at different parts of the day are still being affected.

"So they are telling us all the sickness people have had is just imaginary?

"They just want us to believe in averages, not on the daily data.

"We are not scaremongers."

The EA said levels of hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide and methane were all within World Health Organization limits.

A spokesman said: "We completely understand the impact this landfill [site] has had on the community and we'd like to reassure them that we are maintaining our increased regulatory response.

"This includes frequent odour checks and regular site inspections.

"We have made it clear that we expect significant improvements to gas infrastructure and close control over the types of waste accepted for operations at the site to continue."

A Wyre Council spokeswoman added: "Whilst many residents have reported experiencing unpleasant symptoms as a result of odours from the Jameson Road site, the council has not received confirmation from either the NHS or the UK Health Security Agency that the symptoms reported are sufficient to meet the threshold for action under statutory nuisance."