A telephone stink hotline is open and people are being asked to keep an odour diary to dish the dirt in the wake of the “sickening smell” coming from the Creek Fen sewage plant.

Cambs Times: Sewerage treatment works, March. Picture: Steve Williams.Sewerage treatment works, March. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

The plea is part of a bid to find out just how bad the problem to urge Anglian Water to install an odour suppressing system at the waste treatment plant.

A March councillor, however, said it is not enough and the process should be stopped immediately and only started again once a smell suppressor is in place.

Councillor Peter Tunley said: “It’s a sickening smell. It turns your stomach.

“We all know it’s a problem. I can’t understand why residents have to keep a register of how the smell is actually affecting them when the effects are not in dispute.

Cambs Times: Sewerage treatment works, March. Picture: Steve Williams.Sewerage treatment works, March. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

The Environment Agency and Anglian Water should be putting systems in place now to make residents feel confident that the problem is solved rather than hiding behind a procedure of asking everybody to report issues.”

Ian Yates, senior environmental health protection officer at Fenland District Council, said his tea is working with the Environment Agency and Anglian Water to find a solution which has involved several visits to the sewage treatment works near Deptford Farm.

He said: “Anglian Water are currently looking into the installation of an odour suppression facility on the site and I am hopeful that the system will be installed in the very near future.

“The regulatory body for the sewage treatment plant is the Environment Agency and I have notified them of the situation and they will investigate and take any appropriate action.”

Cambs Times: Sewerage treatment works, March. Picture: Steve Williams.Sewerage treatment works, March. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

People are asked to call a stink hotline on 0800-807060 when experiencing odour nuisance.

They can also state on the phone that the complaint is for the attention of Emma D’Avilar.

Residents are also asked to keep an odour diary to log all incidents with dates and times.

Mr Yates said: “Hopefully a speedy resolution will be found.”