The Environment Agency hands enforcement notices to three firms

A trio of companies have been handed an enforcement notice ordering it to clean up their properties after dozens of residents complained of a putrid smell in Neasden.

The Environment Agency issued Seneca Environmental Solutions, T. E. Scudder and P.J. Carey with the notice after it began receiving complaints about a bad smell in parts of Neasden and Wembley.

The agency launched an investigation and discovered it was coming from the company’s waste facility in Hannah Close, Neasden.

Residents had been complaining about the bad smell – which was even hitting commuters on the tube past Wembley Park - for a number of weeks but were at a loss as to what was causing it.

Daniel Paine, Quainton Street, Neasden, said: “It is horrid. It smells like rotting rubbish or something and you feel like you can’t escape it.”

Damyanti Raghvani, who lives in Neasden, said: “It has been there for weeks, but perhaps suppressed in the recent rains we’ve had or just not been noticed because people stayed indoors out of rain?

“I remember the same smell last summer when we had guests over for BBQ and how unpleasant that was. This smell has attracted lot of black house flies. We aren’t able to open doors or windows because of this stench.”

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency told the Times that it had received 49 complaints since July 30 and that it had now served an enforcement notice on the company ordering it to clean things up by tomorrow.

The spokeswoman said: “We will work with the companies this week to make sure they take the necessary steps to clean up the site. If they do not we will consider further enforcement action in line with our Enforcement and Civil Sanctions Policy.”

A spokesman for Seneca said: “Seneca have invested �20m into the development of our Materials Recovery Facility at Hannah Close which includes the instillation of a deodorisation system.

“We have recently had problems with the system and have consequently engaged a specialist contractor who is working with us round the clock to remedy this issue in the quickest time possible.”

A Brent Council spokeswoman said: “Residents who would like to complain about the smell or obtain progress reports can telephone the Environment Agency on 0800 807 060.”