Last updated 20:04, Thursday, 18 September 2008

THERE’S something off about the way that the issue of the Siddick pong has been handled.

This dreadful stench has blighted the lives of thousands of people over a large area for many years.

United Utilities has already spent £4.5 million trying to eradicate the stink from its Siddick waste water treatment plant, so it’s not as if the problem hasn’t been thoroughly aired and accepted.

But local people are adamant that the pong persists - and now we learn that United Utilities has no more money to pour at the problem.

Worse than that, its money is apparently being diverted to what the company says is a higher priority elsewhere; talk about adding insult to noxious injury.

It also admitted this week that even after all this time it couldn’t pinpoint the exact source of the odour.

No wonder that local people are crying “foul” after being told some months ago that the problem had gone away. The only blessing from this wet summer has been that it probably kept the stench at a relatively tolerable level.

At least United Utilities has been prepared to face the music, and the company’s bosses will have left a public meeting in the area this week fully aware of the strength of feeling among local residents.

Pressure must now be kept up to ensure that Siddick is put back at the top of their agenda and that money is set aside for further remedial work.

They simply cannot be allowed to leave the Siddick pong hanging in the air like this.