Renfrewshire farm faces action over human sewage stench
A farmer and his contractor have been reported to the prosecutors over a foul stench from human waste.
Renfrewshire Council said it had received hundreds of complaints about the smell from the "sewage sludge cake" at Drumcross Farm near Erskine.
It reported the farm and contractor James McCaig Farms to prosecutors over alleged failures to "minimise the nuisance caused to nearby communities".
The sewage was spread and ploughed into the soil at the farm on Tuesday.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: "This activity has caused smell nuisance in neighbouring communities, and the council will take formal enforcement action in respect of the failure by the farmer and his contractor to comply with the terms of the abatement notice."
The council said hundreds of people had contacted the council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to complain about the smell.
Renfrewshire Council said it had served the notice requiring Killochries Fold, which runs Drumcross Farm in Bishopton, and their contractors, James McCaig Farms, to ensure adequate measures were taken to comply with legislation in respect of preventing odours.
It said the famer had since advised the council that he does not intend to use this material on this land again.
Earlier, Sepa said the human waste stored at the farm had been dispersed.
In a statement, Sepa said: "Sepa is receiving a large number of complaints regarding offensive odour mainly in the Bishopton and Erskine areas.
"Due to the changeable wind conditions at this time the source of this odour, in either Bishopton or Erskine, is likely to be the spreading of sewage sludge at Drumcross Farm, Erskine.
"This waste has been the source of a large number of complaints during its storage at the same farm over the last three weeks."
Sepa said it had been advised on Monday by "the operator James McCaig Farms that they intended to start spreading the sludge" on Tuesday.
The statement added: "This will involve disturbing the waste which is likely to result in the generation of odour which may be offensive.
"Odour generated from the spreading operations is regulated by the local authority, Renfrewshire Council's Environmental Services, to whom complaints may be referred."