A village business owner has had no guests to his caravan site due to the ‘awful’ and ‘noxious’ smell from a nearby Aycliffe landfill site that has been plaguing residents for six months.

As a result, locals have been suffering from a raft of health concerns, including skin rashes, worsening asthma, persistent headaches and chest infections.

Now villagers are complaining to the Environment Agency, their MPs, the Darlington Borough Council and the Ashcourt Group that manages the site and to anyone who will listen, in order to find some answers.

Stuart Hodgson has lived in the village near Newton Aycliffe for 19 years and he has never known anything like the smell residents have been experiencing.

The Northern Echo: John and Anne King

His site, Cosy Corner, has not been booked since last October when the smell from the Ashcourt landfill site first began.

Mr Hodgson said: "I have been a resident of Brafferton for years and we never had any problems when John Wade ran the site.

"Ashcourt took over and they didn't care about residents.

"If I go a few miles over the speed limit I get fined, they breach agreements and nothing happens for months.

"I can't see the point of having an Environment Agency if they don't do anything.

"We shouldn't have to live with these awful smells. Me and my wife run a caravan site and we haven't accepted anybody for six months.

"What if they left a review saying that it stinks? It would never go away.

"It’s always the bad reviews that people pay attention to.

"We always tell people who get in touch that we wouldn’t recommend staying because it might smell awful. 

"We have lost hundreds of pounds from people not visiting the caravan site but it’s the money lost to the local pubs and shops and the knock on effect that is worse."

Stuart isn't the only business owner in the village who has been affected by the "noxious smell".

The Northern Echo: Brafferton Village

Katie Walsh - a piano tutor

Katie Walsh, a piano tutor, has been struggling to get parents to come to the village with their children because of the smell.

She said: "It's a beautiful village and it stinks.

"We can't open out windows in the evening when parents will be coming over.

"It has been awful. Sometimes I think about moving but we shouldn't have to.

"I run a tutoring business. I teach piano and parents will say to me how awful it is coming to the house.

"Outside the smell will be awful. I worry about it putting people off. 

"As a business owner it is seriously worrying."

Many more businesses will have been affected during the last six months in Newton Aycliffe and Aycliffe village.

The Environment Agency and Ashcourt Group believe that the final fix has been put in place.

Paul Howell, Conservative MP for Sedgefield, said: "I have had continual engagement with both Ashcourt Group and the Environment Agency on this issue with the most recent meeting this morning. Once again I expressed my, and my constituents, frustration that this smell is still evident after multiple committed dates have passed. 

"Ashcourt are keen to engage with individuals on a one-to-one basis and if anyone has further concerns about how it has affected them personally, I would encourage them to engage with Ashcourt directly or through myself."

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An Environment Agency spokesperson said: "We understand how unpleasant the odours are for local residents.

"We will be inspecting the site to assess how effective this remedial work has been to control the gas emissions and will continue to monitor odours in the community.”

We have contacted the Ashcourt Group for comment but we have not heard back.