'Intolerable' smell and clouds of flies in Suffolk town

The Environment Agency is investigating and working with a food business after receiving several complaints about the odour, in Eye.

Eye Town councillor Robert Spreadbury said: “Every time we get a wind from the southwest, the smell is intolerable. It's like a rotting gut smell.

“When the wind is going in one direction, one part of the town gets it and in the other direction another part of the town gets it.

“We have had to shut all the windows and doors because the stink was so bad. I think we get it worse when it's warm and there is a wind with it.

“I have a fly trap at the end of my garden and it's full of thousands of flies every time I put it out there. We have put out two traps this summer and I should think about 10,000 flies in each of them.

“Eye is such a beautiful town and it's a blight on it.”

Robert Spreadbury (Image: Gregg Brown)

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We’ve received a number of complaints about bad smells coming from a food processing factory in Eye. We’re working with the site operator to determine the cause.

“Members of the public can report environmental incidents to us on our free 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”

A Mid Suffolk District Council spokesperson recognised how unpleasant flies and odours can be, saying they pass on complaints to the Environment Agency.

A spokesperson said: “The chicken factories operate under a permit from the Environment Agency, so they are responsible for any enforcement required around odour control etc. 

“We immediately pass on any complaints we receive from residents as we appreciate how upsetting flies and unpleasant odours can be, particularly during hot weather when doors and windows are open.”

The East Anglian Daily Times contacted Cranswick in Eye for comment, but they did not respond, and Shazans declined to comment.