Residents unite to tackle sewage works smells around Ingoldmells

COMMUNITIES along the coast have joined forces to send a tough message to Anglian Water that continuing sewage smells will no longer be tolerated.

Ingoldmells residents have been campaigning for almost 20 years for an end to foul odours that have plagued the village, from the treatment works on Bolton's Lane.

Now they say enough is enough and have gathered support from outlying towns and villages including Skegness, Winthorpe, Burgh Le Marsh, Chapel St Leonards and Anderby to take action and boost their campaign.

At the Skegness Area Committee, county, district, town and parish representatives unanimously agreed to go straight to regulator OFWAT about the issue and also ask Lincolnshire County Council to get its legal team on the case.

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Members heard from Ingoldmells parish councillor Jean Ellis, who said: "Twenty years ago, our fight first began. Anglian Water have now decided that they will put perfume in the sewage to see if that will help and they even asked us what smell we would like.

"It's affecting our way of life, we can't hang washing out, we can't have barbecues and we can't sit in our gardens."

Anglian Water has invested around £90,000 in a dosing system to prevent sewage from going septic in the pipes, and installed equipment at new sites.

Skegness Mayor Cllr Mark Anderson said: "This has been ongoing for years and years and it's time we said no, we are going to stop putting up with this.

"It's not just Ingoldmells, it affects Winthorpe and Beacon Park it's getting worse year by year."

Cllr Steve O'Dare said if the tourism industry was seeing visitors leaving the village because of the smell, he couldn't understand why businesses hadn't threatened to sue the water company.

An Anglian Water spokesman said: "We are working hard to reduce smells at the Ingoldmells works and on the sewer network that serves it. As part of those efforts we do use odour masking sprays at the sewage works and are looking to extend their use in the short term. However, it is not true that we have asked residents to choose their preferred perfume. We are busy commissioning odour monitors at the inlet where sewage enters the works."