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Landfill blighted by 'rotten egg' smell to suspend waste deliveries

BBC Waste at the siteBBC
Two thousand people complained to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council at the end of February about the smell coming from Walleys Quarry landfill

Deliveries of waste will be temporarily suspended at a landfill that has attracted hundreds of complaints about a smell coming from the site.

Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, Staffordshire, has been the focus of community anger over many years.

However, there were 2,000 complaints over single weekend at the end of February and saw questions asked in Parliament.

Owner Red Industries said waste deliveries would be halted on Saturday.

Royal Stoke University Hospital, 2.5 miles (4km) away was among those to complain about the smell of "rotten eggs".

Stop the Stink sign on school gates
One local head teacher said some parents had decided not to send their children due to the 'overwhelming' smell

Catherine Pointon, the head teacher of St Giles' and St George's CofE Academy, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, about a mile away said some parents had been put off sending their children because of the smell over the years.

Likewise, local resident Liz Forster said her family would not have moved to their home about half a mile from the landfill "if we knew this was going to get this bad a few years ago".

The Environment Agency said the stenches in February were caused by contaminated surface water at the site.

Red Industries said it was removing the water and drilling new wells to capture more gas from inside the landfill.

On Thursday, the firm went further and said it would suspend rubbish deliveries to the site on 13 March as a temporary move and has not said when they will resume.

Entrance to the landfill
Red Industries, which runs the landfill, said rubbish deliveries would be temporarily halted from 13 March

Planned work to cap or cover part of the landfill site with layers of soil, clay and other materials will be accelerated, it added.

The firm has been coming under increasing pressure to take action and the Environment Agency has set up a monitoring site nearby.

The Environment Agency also said it would investigate allegations about criminal activities at Walleys Quarry, but refused to comment further.

Red Industries said it was aware of the latest complaint, adding: "We have operated this site since 2016 and have never, and will never, accept hazardous waste at Walleys Quarry."

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