Sewage creates a stink in village

Tourists usually visit the village to see St Michael's church

Villagers have complained that their Easter holiday was ruined by the smell of sewage outside their homes.

Treated human sewage sludge spread over fields at Betws-yn-Rhos in Conwy just before the break, was the root of the problem, said residents.

Dwr Cymru Welsh Water has apologised for the incident.

The company said the contractor was advised to stop work immediately the smell was noticed and the same field will not be treated again.

"It was awful, it was as if something big had died and been left for a few days, it made some people quite ill," said Betws-yn-Rhos community councillor Rhys Davies.

Everyone outside had to hold something over their faces because of the smell Rhys Davies, councillor

"What made it worse was it was over the holiday and it was impossible to get hold of anyone to sort it out," he added.

The village of Betws-yn-Rhos is on the route between St Asaph and Glan Conwy, for drivers wishing to avoid the coast road. It also attracts tourists because of the historic St Michaels church.

"People stop here to have a walk around, or visit the pub for a meal, but over the weekend everyone outside had to hold something over their faces because of the smell," Mr Davies added.

A spokesman for Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, who supply the treated sewage to contractors for use as fertiliser, apologised villagers for the smell.

Suitable for the purpose

"We spread treated sewage sludge onto a field that had previously been tested and shown as suitable for this purpose but bad weather meant the sludge could not immediately be ploughed into the field and resulted in odours in the area," said the spokesman.

The spokesman added that the work had stopped as soon as the problem became apparent.

Before work of this kind is started Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water have to tell the Environment Agency Wales as well as the local authority.

Councillor Davies now wants to make sure that the same thing does not happen again.

"I'm not at all sure this kind of thing should be used on a field like this and I think tighter controls should be put in place," he said.