The sour smell of summer; RECYCLING SITE STINK.

Byline: By AMY HUNT Environment Reporter

OUR wet summer was a pain for most people.

But for those living in the West End of Newcastle it has caused one almighty stink.

Furiously sprouting grass mown from around the city is rotting at a council depot, creating a nasty niff.

It has become so bad Newcastle City Council is to ship the offending cuttings out to farms in the Northumberland countryside to spread on their fields.

In July we reported how families living around Walbottle, New-burn and Lamington had to keep their windows closed and stay out of their gardens because of the manure-like smell rising from Newcastle City Council's Sand hills composting facility on Walbottle Road.

David Brown, of Crofton Way, Newburn, told the Chronicle: "The smell is absolutely disgusting. We can't have a barbecue or even go in the garden, it's so strong. Everyone is complaining about it."

Two months on the council has been unable to eradicate the pong.

Because of all the rain soaking the region this summer, more grass has been cut and has been rotting at the composting site. Newcastle City Council's head of environmental services Rob Nichols said: "We have recently expanded the garden waste collection service. Previously 15,000 properties received this service but this has now grown to approximately 54,000.

"As a consequence of the increase and consistent warm, wet weather, the mix of materials at the site has changed.

"This situation has on occasion resulted in the release of some unacceptable odors. Working with the Environment Agency, the council has put in place a series of measures, including the removal of approximately 700 tonnes of green waste from the site over the next two working days, which will be relocated to another recycling operation away from residential properties.

"Improved working practices agreed with the Environment Agency have been implemented and the council is confident these will prevent this problem happening a gain."