Residents kick up stink

RESIDENTS living in a West Lancashire town have been left baffled by a mystery stench plaguing the area.

People in Skelmersdale have contacted their local gas supplier over fears there may be a leak in the supply chain putting lives at risk, but engineers have reported no issues.

Reports on social media said they could smell the “strong” and “horrible” odour.

Writing on a local Facebook group, one person said: “We passed White Moss at 6.30pm whilst on M58 it was bad... returned at 11.30pm, still awful.

“I feel so sorry for residents living closer.

“I will report it now.”

Another said: “It’s still around now, smells awful.”

A third concerned person added: “It was horrendous yesterday on the M58 as we drove past the landfill.”

A spokesperson for gas distributors Cadent said they received a number of calls from people worried they could smell gas.

They added engineers “checked everything” and there were no readings to suggest it was natural gas.

The spokesperson said all Cadent can do is rule out natural gas and added across the area, smells like this have been traced back to industrial processes, landfill sites, activities at docks, and other things.

However, it is unclear whether this is the case here.

They added: “A very important point to make though is that it is ALWAYS the right thing to do to call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999, immediately, if you think you smell gas.

“Don’t dismiss it as related to this.

“Our worry in a case like this is that, in amongst the calls that turn out not to be gas, is a completely unrelated case that is gas - so always call and we will check.”