Mystery of cannabis pong in city

Investigations take place at marijuana farm run by British Sugar

Residents across Peterborough have been baffled by the smell of cannabis drifting over the city. Some have complained of headaches, but the source may be a government-approved farm in King’s Lynn.

The mystery as to why Peterborough smells of cannabis may now have been solved. Distributing drugs can lead to a serious stretch in prison, but it appears a cannabis farm sanctioned by the government could be to blame for the waft of marijuana which has been stinging the nostrils of city residents.

Incredibly, the farm is some distance from the city in King’s Lynn and is run by British Sugar, with the firm saying it is investigating whether it is the cause of the smell.

The company’s Wissington factory started growing cannabis plants this year so the ingredient can be used in medicine to treat rare forms of epilepsy in children.

A spokesperson for British Sugar, which has its head office in

Sugar Way, Peterborough, said: “As part of our investigation we will look at any measures we can implement during our operations to reduce the intensity and impact of any smell this could cause.”

Fenland District Council said it had received “numer- British Sugar’s plant in Wissington where cannabis is being grown for medical purposes ous calls” from residents who could smell marijuana, while Peterborough Telegraph readers said they could smell it in Hampton Hargate, Gunthorpe and Stanground.

One reader from Orton Goldhay, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I can smell the cannabis here, and some nights it is so strong I’m getting headaches.

“My children have also smelt it and complained of headaches.”

Asked if smelling cannabis can harm people’s health, Alec Dobney, of Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, said: “Some people may experience symptoms such as nausea, headaches or dizziness as a reaction to odours even when the substances that cause those smells are themselves not harmful to health.”

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group said it did not wish to comment.

This is not the first time the city has suffered nasally with the mysterious Peterborough Pong striking in 2007. The stink was described as smelling like a cross between sewerage, manure and rotting flesh.

The cause of that smell was unknown but the original ‘Peterborough Pong’ was believed to have emanated from the former British Sugar factory, which was demolished in 1991, in what is now Sugar Way and was associated with the processing of sugar beet.

‘My children have also smelt it and complained of headaches.’