'Hallelujah': Residents rejoice as work to clear bad smell starts

Residents rejoiced after work began to clear the source of a rotting smell that had plagued part of a town for three months.

After Metrow Foods caught fire in Leigh-on-Sea, near Southend, in August, asbestos was disturbed and food, including cheese, meats, seafood and vegetables, was left to decompose.

Residents complained about an unpleasant smell in the area, and while the council acknowledged the complications caused by the asbestos, it ordered the company to resolve the situation.

Giving an update to the BBC, Labour council leader Daniel Cowan confirmed contractors had started clearing the warehouse on Monday. Reacting to the news, local dog walker Sally Carrington, 61, said "Hallelujah".

Metrow Foods, which employs more than 100 people, previously described the situation as "complex" to resolve. The company has been contacted for further comment.

Ms Carrington said she tried not to breathe through her nose when she visited Eastwood Park, near the warehouse.

The retired headteacher added: "For this stretch of the park it can be quite nauseous. If it's a warm day, it doesn't even have to be a hot day, it's really quite unpleasant.

"In fact, I have been known to actually hold my breath for this little bit until I get to the end of the park and I can turn away from the wind so I'm not actually in the same direction as the smell.

"It's an 'off' smell. It's clearly a mould smell, sort of like food that is deteriorating."

She said lots of friends had contacted the council about the issue.

Another dog walker, Tina Watley, lives on the other side of the park.

Describing the odour on a hot day, she said: "Imagine a cesspit.

"It smells terrible, depending on which way the wind's blowing. This is where we walk our dogs all the time. So, it's just horrendous.

"The house is just full of flies," she added, but said the colder weather was helping with that.

On "really bad" days, she drives her dog to an alternative park.

Her friend, Karen, said she can smell it from where she lives four streets away, and it was "great" that the warehouse was set to be cleared.

"The flies that come into your house are disgusting," she said,

"There was a meeting that the immediate close residents were invited to, but it's just a lot of like, 'we'll listen to your grievances, ' but so far they've done absolutely jackal about it [until now]."

Cowan said: "The company's surveyors have advised that the building will be contained during these works, the odour-suppression unit will continue to operate with insecticide spray and odour masking, and the fly traps will remain in place throughout.

He added that the council will keep an open channel with residents and the surveyors if the issues persist.

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