SEWAGE chiefs have shelled out a whopping £250,000 to try to put an end to the grim stench wafting from a Fareham sewage works.

The infamous "Peel Common Pong" that regularly permeates the air around the Peel Common Wastewater Treatment Works is an unpleasant whiff that motorists and residents are all too familiar with.

But now bosses at the Newgate Lane works have spent the huge sum on installing a chemical dosing plant which adds potassium permanganate to the solid waste extracted from the wastewater.

They have also sealed the connection point where sludge is transferred from tankers delivering to the works, as well as covering parts of the plant likely to cause smells.

It is hoped that this first phase of action to tackle the stench won't go unnoticed by those who have had to hold their noses while in the vicinity of the plant.

Mark Thompson, Southern Water's maintenance manager, said: "Inevitably the nature of the material being dealt with at the treatment works can cause smells and we do our utmost to ensure any disturbance is minimised.

"We have been regularly monitoring any smells at the site boundary to track the impact of the scheme and I am pleased that, since the work has been carried out, we have seen improvements."

More work is planned over the next five years to help further upgrade the site, which treats waste water from as far afield as Botley and Portchester.

Gosport MP Peter Viggers, recently visited the plant to see the £250,000 improvements for himself.

He said: "Bearing in mind the volume of waste water treated by the plant, Southern Water does a very good job."