Neighbours in Stockport say they've been suffering from a 'horrendous' stench from a nearby sewage treatment plant.

The Stockport Wastewater Treatment Works is based on Heathside Park Road off Roscoe's roundabout and is run by United Utilities.

Some people living in Cheadle Heath said they've been hit with a pungent whiff of 'sewage' in the last few days.

Zohaib, who lives on Selsey Avenue, said: "It was really strong last night, it has been worse than usual recently. It's not a nice smell at all, it's just sewage so it's pretty bad."

David Lomax, 53, lives near Heathside Road and said the issue has been going on for decades and was bad last Sunday.

"It's absolutely horrendous," he said. "We can all smell it here, it's every summer and generally happens in hot weather.

"As soon as you want to have a barbeque, invite friends round, put your washing out, do anything outside, you can't go out."

(Image - Patrick Federi / Unsplash)

Others in the neighbourhood were less bothered, saying there is the occasional smell but they hardly notice it.

A second resident living on Selsey Avenue, who didn't want to give their name, said: "We've not smelt it recently but a few years ago it was really bad, it could just be the way the wind blows depending on who it affects," they said.

"It smells like manure when it comes, like going past a farmer's field, but I think you've just got to expect it if you live nearby."

Councillor David Meller, who represents Cheadle East and Cheadle Hulme North, said the problem used to be much worse.

"The estate that has been particularly affected is the Kenilworth estate which is right next door to the treatment works," he said. "They used to get it fairly bad a good number of years ago."

Stockport's wastewater treatment works is based off Roscoe's roundabout (Image - Google Maps)

But he said the issue is not what it once was, and complaints have become less frequent.

"You may get the odd whiff as you're driving down the motorway past it, but I live in Cheadle Heath up the road from it and it's very rare I can smell it from here," he added.

"Every so often there are people who complain about it, it is quite rare, but I do recognise there's still a lingering issue to a small degree."

United Utilities explained that odours can happen when the organic materials break down in sewerage, and can be worse in summer when the weather is hot.

A spokesperson said: "We are aware that some residents can occasionally experience issues of odour near our treatment works in Stockport. Over the last decade we have invested in the site to significantly reduce the impact they have. We continue to monitor the situation and investigate how we can further minimise any odours.

"As part of our ambitious £13bn investment plan to transform the water and wastewater networks across the North West, we will be upgrading the works at Stockport over the next five years."

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