Flies in kids' mouths, drivers vomiting, nets over cots - Parliament hears the true horrors of Leamington's rancid odours
“The day my son asked when mummy was going to stop the flies so he could eat his dinner without flies crawling into his mouth...was when I realised how terrible it had got.”
That was just one of the shocking stories from residents heard in Parliament as Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western recalled the horrific impact that the rancid smells are having on people in Leamington, south Warwick, Whitnash, Heathcote and Warwick Gates.
After much campaigning, the MP secured a debate on Wednesday night so he can highlight the ordeal suffered by hundreds of residents.
He started the debate by saying: "I will, if I may, start by encouraging you, Madam Deputy Speaker, to imagine being in your own home and unable to eat with your family, unable to leave food for even a minute without your kitchen being swarmed with flies, and unable to sleep in your own bed without flies landing on your face.
"Imagine flies everywhere, in every room of your house, in business premises, in pubs, in restaurants and in takeaways, and vile odours permeating your life whether at home, walking the streets or driving your car. That is the reality for hundreds of families in one part my constituency."
Mr Western secured the debate so he could put more pressure on the Environment Agency (EA) to do more.
He added: "I estimate that as many as 10,000—if not more—of my constituents in south Warwick, south Leamington and Whitnash are impacted by this. They have faced swarms of flies and foul odours for three years running. Their houses are infested with flies. They are unable to open their windows for fear of swarms entering their home.
"They are unable to prepare food in their kitchen without the constant cleaning of their work surfaces to clean off the fly excrement, which also adheres to their walls. Would any Member of this House be satisfied with their family living like that? This is not just a minor inconvenience; this is ruining people’s lives. People are getting ill, and some residents are actually selling up.
"Then there is the all-pervasive foul-smelling odour. Constituents describe the smell as being like “raw sewage”. They say it is “sulphuric” and “toxic”. Many have told me that the smell is “utterly unbearable”.
"I have smelt it myself on many occasions. Again, this is substantially harming people and their lives. Two constituents have told me that their asthma has significantly worsened due to the smell, and, as a result, they have had to increase their medication. This is clearly a public health risk and it should be treated as such."
To exemplify how awful the situation is for residents, Mr Western read some particularly distressing quotes. One resident said: “I have to have fly nets over my foster babies’ cots and bouncers”.
Another said: “It is apocalyptic, the flies affect every minute of your day, from waking, to washing, preparing food, working, cleaning, trying to sleep.”
Another said: “I’ve had to come away from various activities around town including paying my respects in the local cemetery because of the smell. Twice it’s been so bad I’ve vomited while driving my car along Heathcote Road, which could cause an accident.”
To read the full transcript of the debate, click here.
Many residents believe the problem is coming from Berry Circular Polymers, a large factory off Tachbrook Road that recycles plastic waste.
The company denies these claims and the EA has made numerous visits to the area - but officers had "yet to confirm the existence of a statutory nuisance coming from the site".
Previously, Berry Circular Polymers told us: "We take these concerns extremely seriously and although both ourselves and our regulators cannot find a substantial causal link, we are committed to ensuring we do not negatively impact Warwickshire residents."
RAPID - a campaign group set up by local residents - said its strongest argument is that these problems started when Berry Circular Polymers began operating in January 2023. It said the smells were noticed soon after that but the first official complaint was logged with WDC in April 2023.
In response to Mr Western's points in Parliament, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Mary Creagh, said that the residents' experiences were distressing and that they must continue to report them. However, she added that the EA has carried out numerous visits and said: "No odour or notably elevated fly numbers were noted. A further site visit was conducted last week on May 7, and no breaches were identified.
"The EA will continue to respond to reports of odour and flies, and to proactively inspect Berry Polymers and any other permitted or exempt site in the area that it considers a potential source of flies or odour."
Mr Western replied: "The frustration is that, after two years, there is real fatigue among the community about the district council, the Environment Agency and environmental health not listening and taking this problem seriously, so I do not think that we can just complete online forms and rely on them to respond."
A spokesperson from RAPID said: “We are very grateful for Matt Western's speech and the efforts he has made to voice the true, significantly life changing impact that this recycling plant has had on our people, homes, local economy and community over the past two years.
"Although there were some critical inaccuracies in the feedback from the Minister regarding the Environment Agencies handling of this case to date which have been raised previously, we welcome the acknowledgment of the horrific impact this has had, and the understanding that committing to a delivering a circular economy (including plastic recycling) should not be at the sacrifice of public health."