Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has set an "urgent" meeting with environment officials over the "stench" at a landfill site.

The mayor paid a visit to Pilsworth South Quarry on Wednesday following ongoing complaints from residents in Bury and Rochdale over odours from the landfill site.

Andy Burnham said he was "taken aback" by his visit to the site and said he would call an urgent meeting with the Environment Agency asking them to take action.

In a statement posted on X on Thursday, the mayor said: “Yesterday (Wednesday) I was invited over to the Pilsworth landfill site by the leaders of Rochdale and Bury councils to hear the concerns of local residents about the stench.

“What I experienced took me aback. I am now calling an urgent meeting with the Environment Agency to require immediate action.”

And today, Sunday, Mr Burnham said: "Our meeting with the Environment Agency is set for Wednesday, March 13 at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority offices.

"In the meantime, I expect urgent action to be taken to address the causes of this appalling hazard."

Councillors in Bury heard last year that complaints to the Environment Agency, which is responsible for regulating the site, rose from 100 to 400 and that a petition demanding action over the smell had been signed by 2,553 people.

In January, plans submitted by the landfill operator Valencia Waste Management for a new recycling centre near the landfill were approved.

In December last year, Rochdale Council backed a motion calling for the landfill to be “closed and capped off as soon as practicable and before the expiration of the current permit and the operator to have enforcement action taken against them to resolve the concerns of residents”.

In a statement in December, an Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Our investigations are currently ongoing into recent odour issues at a site in Pilsworth.

"We are using the regulatory powers available to us to resolve this issue.

“We would like to thank members of the community who have reported odours to us. Members of the public can report odour to our 24/7 incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”

In January, a spokesman for the landfill site operator said: “Valencia Waste Management is committed to being a responsible operator and working alongside our local community in Pilsworth.

"During recent months, we have been undertaking extensive engineering works on site to improve odour control.

“Unfortunately, the recent extreme weather conditions delayed the completion of these engineering works.

"The engineering works have now been completed and the odour has been suppressed.

“We are working with the Environment Agency and have undertaken further odour suppression activity to reduce the risk of further odour issues around the site.

"We would like to take this opportunity to apologies for any disruption caused to local residents during this time.”