The foul stench cloud emanating from a sewage works has spread to Bitterne Park - and residents have had enough.

Residents in St Denys have been complaining about the disgusting miasma caused by Southern Water’s Portswood Wastewater Treatment Works for years.

But now it appears the pong has spread to Bitterne Park as well - and a group of residents have said they’re concerned it could affect their health.

Neighbours Alex Smith, Hannah Faux, and Rachel Muir of Mead Crescent in Bitterne Park live along the water not for from the treatment works, beside the River Itchen.

Alex, who’s lived in the road for five years said: “It’s been like it the whole time I’ve lived here but it’s got even worse in the last year or two.

“It’s horrible in the summer, particularly when you have really hot days, because you can smell this horrible stench in the garden.

"It's even a problem when you’re inside and you’ve got the windows and doors closed. You feel like you can’t have people round.”

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“My five-year-old has even noticed it on the way to school,” said Hannah.

“Bitterne Park Primary School is just up the road, and the smell can be particularly bad there on the school run.

"You wonder how it might be affecting the children if they have to breathe it in all day.”

Rachel has lived in Mead Crescent for seven years and said she’d contacted Southern Water previously after seeing some swans in the river that appeared to be covered in sewage but received no reply.

“You feel like you’ve got nowhere else to turn to,” she said.

“I think it seems to be a national problem at the moment, but it’s definitely got worse here in the last year or so.”

in response to the neighbour’s concerns, John Penicud, Director for Wastewater Operations said: “We want to play our part in protecting and improving the environment in this area, which is why we’re spending more than £8m in improving our Portswood treatment works.

 “This work, which is underway, includes building a new storm tank and changing the way the site operates through installing another level of treatment, which will help issues relating to odour and water quality.”