FOR more than one month, the streets of Radcliffe have been 'plagued' by a foul and 'vile' smell that is coming from a sewage works.

Residents say the odour is so pungent it is affecting the entirety of Radcliffe East on a near-daily basis.

Others said the smell is spoiling family visits to nearby Close Park.

The source of the smell is the United Utilities sewage works on Blackford Bridge.

The water and wastewater services company said that a lack of flow into the tanks, during the dry weather, has caused the material at the bottom to smell.

Work is being carried out to try and remove the residue in a controlled way. A layer of water has been added with the aim to seal in the smell while the tank is drained.

Colette Jones, a representative of the Friends of Close Park, said: "The smell has been lingering for more than four weeks.

"It appears there has been a build up of ammonia because of the hot weather.

"Dozens of residents are complaining about the issue.

"This is affecting the whole of Radcliffe East and spoiling visits to the park."

Councillor Rhyse Cathcart said: "I live a stone's throw away from the plant.

"Historically, from time to time, you do get a smell coming from the plant.

"However, over the past month it has become a real issue with almost daily problems.

"A number of residents have been rightly complaining."

Residents are holding daily polls on Facebook to vote on when the smell is at its worst.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said the smell had been ongoing for around four weeks.

The resident of Riverbank Park said: “Some days it has been so bad that we have had to keep the windows shut and we could not hang our washing out.”

A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “Smells from our wastewater treatment works in Bury can happen as the result of extended periods of dry weather but we work hard to prevent them affecting our neighbours wherever we can. Thankfully they are quite rare.

"We are monitoring the odours on the site so that we can take steps to manage the situation.

"We believe this is making a difference because our monitors appear to show that odour levels have reduced.

"However, we’re sorry that some residents are still unhappy and will continue to try to improve the situation."