Environmental officers say they have found the cause of the pungent smells being experienced in towns along the Fife coast over the last week.
Residents from North Queensferry to Burntisland have inundated Fife Council reporting putrid, and often unbearable, odours at various times of the day since Monday.
Concerns have centred around the Inverkeithing, Hill End and Dalgety Bay areas with many people taking to social media in a bid to find out where the smell was coming from.
Many had described the stink as vile, rancid and disgusting.
Some had feared the latest problems were because of a return to the use of distillery waste as a fertiliser on farm land which had caused consternation among thousands of people living in west Fife two years before.
Following an investigation back in May 2018, it was found that 1000 tonnes of limed distillery waste had been spread on farmland at Muirdean resulting in hundreds of complaints.
The Fife authority took legal action against the landowner at the time.
Commenting on this latest wave of complaints, David Barratt, SNP Councillor for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, said: “Having been made aware of a number of complaints from resident in my ward, and having experienced first hand the severity of the smell in the air the past couple days, I have been speaking to the council’s environmental health team in a bid to find the cause.
“Having investigated the matter I have been informed that the problem has come local farm land.
“I grew up in a rural area and live in Hill End close the source of the concern so I’m not unfamiliar with agricultural smells, although this really was quite potent so I can understand the level of interest.”
In a statement from the council’s environmental team to councillor Barratt, a spokesman said: “I have looked into this matter and discussed it with the farm who were spreading in the Inverkeithing to Fordell area.
“They confirmed that it was hen pen fertiliser that was spread and this has and is being ploughed in.
“They have also advised that this is the end of the spreading in this area for now.
“Hopefully with the ploughing in process taking place and the wind coming in from the West the next few days, residents in Inverkeithing and surrounding area are no longer affected by the odour.”
