Letchworth Sewage Works’ operators are to meet council officers late next month to put over their proposals for a long-term solution to the stink plaguing the nearby village of Fairfield.

Central Bedfordshire Council has appointed an independent consultant to act for them and act as an expert witness when Anglian Water’s appeal against a council abatement notice comes to court.

The consultant is set to visit the works next month – and today Anglian contractors were set to upgrade the ‘bloodhound’ system that aims to reduce the smell.

A spokeswoman for Anglian told the Comet that by the end of March, the firm intends to install an additional odour suppressant unit, cover a well where smells can be reduced, and put in additional de-odourising nozzles around two tanks that store sludge and cake, the by-products of water recycling.

She added: “We’re continuing to work closely with Central Bedfordshire Council. We are fully aware of the issues raised by the community, and are taking steps to address this. Some of these steps are longer-term engineering solutions, but we are fast-tracking as much as possible.”

Appealing against the abatement notice last month, Anglian said that they ‘want to be the best neighbours they can’ but eliminating all smells from the water recycling process is impossible.

This outraged the villagers, with Fairfield Parish Council chairman Chris Bidwell telling the Comet of ‘consternation and frustration’.