FURIOUS residents have again complained to Hills Waste Solutions and the Environment Agency about the awful Westbury ‘whiff’ which has ruined their summer.

They say the horrible stench coming from the Hills Waste resource recovery centre on the Northacre Industrial Estate hasn’t got any better despite efforts to reduce it.

Cllr Janet Parker, who lives in Storridge Road, said: “It depends which area of Westbury you are in and the prevailing wind direction.

“I have had lots of complaints from local residents saying that the smell is still there and still as bad as it was before.”

Since the Swindon-based company installed new replacement bio-filters, the centre has not been taking in any waste.

Cllr Parker added: “We were told the filter replacement was finished a couple of days earlier than planned at the end of August so we haven’t noticed any significant improvement in the smell.

“Then we were told that the plant has closed down, so no waste is going in but then if no waste is going in why does the plant still smell? We haven’t had any answers from Hills and we are still waiting for answers from the Environment Agency as well.

“We are hoping to meet with the Environment Agency and Hills to discuss why they haven’t taken action sooner.

"We did ask them four months ago to close down the plant when the residents were suffering from the awful stench and they refused to do so.

“Wiltshire Council also said they didn’t want the plant to close down otherwise they wouldn’t be able to process their waste.

“Now the filters have been replaced, suddenly they’ve decided to close down. Why? We haven’t had an explanation and we’d like to know more.

“It has been horrendous. The stench was unbearable. It felt like you were being assaulted when you stepped outside.

“You could not have your windows open. It was in the house. You couldn’t sleep at night, particularly when we had a heatwave.

“It’s always much, much worse when the weather is warm as well. Basically, the whole of the summer holidays was ruined for Westbury."

“Children couldn’t play outside in the garden. It has just been horrible. I think it’s had a real impact on people’s mental health.

“Coming out of lockdown, people were already feeling stressed and this just made it much, much worse.

“I’ve lived here for five years and there has always been a problem in terms of smell with and flies.

“This year was the worst of the lot and I’m not convinced that next year isn’t going to be just the same.”

A Hills Group spokeswoman said: "The work to replace the Northacre Resource Recovery Centre plant bio-filter was successfully completed on August 26.

"Having assessed the bio-filter on completion of the works, the company decided to bring forward planned maintenance works within the plant treatment hall. These works will improve the plant’s internal airflow and the effectiveness of the bio-filter to further reduce any potential escape of odour.

"Whilst undertaking this maintenance work, waste deliveries to the site and inputs into the plant were temporarily suspended from Monday, September 6 to allow us to complete the work as quickly as possible.

"During this period HWS has continued to liaise closely with the Environment Agency and Wiltshire Council on operations at the site and anticipate the plant will return to normal activities by September 20. We are confident that the actions taken will address odour concerns raised by local residents.

"Should residents continue to experience issues with site operations they are encouraged to report these directly to the company via our website contact form on www.northacrerrc.co.uk or leave a message on 01793 781 207 in addition to reporting these to the Environment Agency."

The Environment Agency says it is stepping up odour surveys with officers visiting the area up to three times a day to monitor the situation.

They say once they are satisfied that the level of odour has significantly reduced they will consider what further enforcement action they need to take.