A FOUL stench wafted across Northwich on Thursday morning after a dangerous chemical was dumped in the town's sewer system.

Environment chiefs received calls from homes and businesses complaining about a rotten egg smell caused by what is believed to be hydrogen sulphide.

"It's a particularly smelly material and very, very small amounts go a long way," said Rupert Adams, Vale Royal's principal environmental health officer.

"If it was found in a high concentration, it could cause concern from a public health point of view."

The council teamed up with North West Water to try and find the source of the problem. By Thursday afternoon, the worst of the smell had gone, but homes near Queen Street and Dock Road were still reporting problems at 1pm.

Mr Adams said the smell may have made some residents' eyes water but was unlikely to have posed serious medical problems.

He said it was hard to know just how much was in the supply because it was hard to track it as it moved through the sewer network as close as three feet to the surface.

Experts believe the chemical may have come from an industrial or construction site and entered the sewers as sludge.

It was eventually treated at Northwich sewage works.

"How much there was is impossible to determine but it's definitely an illegal discharge, there's no doubt about that," added Mr Adams.

Problems

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.