Furious residents living near an Aycliffe landfill site believe they have been suffering from skin rashes, worsening asthma, persistent headaches and chest infections in a raft of health concerns due to a persistent odour they breathe in. Six months on from when the smell first started Brafferton Village locals have been plagued by a ‘nauseating’ smell coming from the nearby Ashcourt Landfill site. Villagers living under the shadow of the noxious pong are now looking for answers for a way out of something they say they “shouldn’t have to put up with”.
John and Anne King (76 and 74 respectively) have both been suffering headaches since the smell began in October 2023. Mr King said: "We have both suffered from headaches since we started getting the smell. We have quire a nice garden but we can’t go out and sit in it when it smells so awful.
We have double glazing but we still can’t open the windows." Fellow resident Alex Swainston's daughter had to have emergency medical care after a severe flare of eczema, Rachel Levy is constantly woken up in the night because of the smell, Neil Stephenson has sore eyes all the time and Katie Walsh's family have had terrible coughs. We have mapped out health complaints from residents living in Brafferton, a village to the south of the landfill site.
The Environment Agency have offered their sympathy to residents and the UK Health Security Agency have stated that they "do not expect there to be any long-term health consequences"..