RESIDENTS in Tilbury have been sent a message from Thurrock Council about an issue that literally gets right up their noses.

Tilbury Riverside ward councillor John Allen has been trying to get the authority to take action over frequent bad smells in the borough and has called on the council's air monitoring team to look at the problem, identify the source of the 'noxious and unpleasant' smells and then take action.

In particular Cllr Allen points the finger at the town's sewage treatment works run by Anglian Water.

However, the council's monitoring department – which has been under longstanding criticism for its lack of action over dust and particle problems in the town, says the issue of smell is a state of mind.

Cllr Allen has been told by the council's air pollution officer: "I have been investigating the issue with colleagues and have the following to say on the subject:

"The human nose is extremely sensitive to odour. Most of us can detect concentrations of gases and particles that are virtually impossible to pick up on any kind of air pollution monitor.

"This means that, while it may be unpleasant to smell a sewage treatment works, the amount of odour-bearing matter in the air is really not of any concern to human health.

"The concentrations that might be considered to constitute an offensive odour are so minute that they wouldn't register at all on our monitors.

"I hope that this serves to allay any concerns of health impacts associated with odour arising from the sewage treatment works."

Cllr John Allen

Cllr Allen says he finds it 'astonishing' that the council can brush aside the issue so easily.

He told Thurrock Nub News: "This is not a new thing, there have long been issues about smells in Tilbury and on many previous times the council and the Environment Agency have acknowledged a legitimate problem. Now it seems that it's too much trouble, and quite frankly I think that the comments from the officer are an insult to the people he is supposed to be working for. He doesn't do much about particles in the air and smells are not a problem. So just what is his job?"

The view of the council officer, appointed around a year ago, appears in stark contrast to previous commitments from the authority.

The issue has been reguarly raised and a spokesman for the Environment Agency previously said: "We have received complaints about odour from Anglian Water's Tilbury Sewage Treatment Plant.

"We have been in regular contact with the company to discuss the measures they are putting in place to control odour emissions from the site. Representatives from Thurrock Council have also been involved in some of these discussions.

"We will continue to work closely with Anglian Water until odour has been reduced to acceptable levels.

"Anybody who wishes to complain about the odour can call our incident hotline on 0800 807060 and we will feedback on our progress."