Chesterfield business 'taking steps' after complaint about 'unbearable' stink from factory

Chiltern Glass Fibre admits the odour from its Barker Lane site is causing a stink for nearby householders, but says the smell is harmless.

One resident, who lives a few streets away, said the smell had been ‘unbearable’ recently.

"I moved about one year ago from London to be closer to the Peak District and cleaner air,” the 39-year-old woman said.

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"It is worse than London where I live now. Even when the windows are closed I can smell it in the house.

"It’s an unpleasant smell and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

"I find it unreal that a factory like this is operating in a residential area.

"During the warm weather we have had this last month it has been unbearable. I can’t even enjoy my garden.”

The woman, who asked not to be named, contacted the environmental health team at Chesterfield Borough Council, who are now carrying out an investigation.

A council spokesperson said: “We are aware of this complaint and are currently investigating this.

"Our approach to investigating smell complaints is to work with the residents and the business to identify problems and if possible, solve them informally.

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"In some circumstances, smells from a business will be present from time to time and cannot be prevented.”

A Chiltern Glass Fibre spokesperson said the issue had recently been brought to their attention and they are taking ‘active steps’ to sort the ‘gluey smell’ which could have been caused by different resins which are being trialled.

"We carried out a workplace exposure assessment to make sure it is not harmful,” he said.

"If it is not harmful to people working here it’s not harmful to people living in the area. We have sent the results to the council.

"It has been warm of late which probably hasn’t helped.

“We have started putting our roller shutters down now which should improve things.

"I would like to eliminate the smell entirely. It’s important to me that people in the area are not inconvenienced by our site.

"I don’t want people to be upset by it. We are creating jobs and I want people to feel positive about our business.”

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