Odours and smells
Sources of odours and smells, and how we deal with complaints.
An odour is a smell that is detectable. We will investigate complaints to see if the odour is causing a nuisance or annoyance. The source of the odour needs to be clearly identified.
We can investigate odour or smell as a nuisance. However, with regards to complaints about the spreading of manure or slurry on the land, we follow the informal advice provided by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) that manure or similar should be ploughed in within 72 hours of it being spread.
Drug odours should be reported to the police on 101 or Report antisocial behaviour | Sussex Police
We are not able to deal with odours from domestic premises, such as cooking and cigarette smoke coming from within people's homes. However, foul or putrid odours from within residential properties can be investigated.
We're often asked to investigate odours from kitchen exhaust/extraction systems serving restaurants and takeaways. In these cases, we can check that the extractor system and ducting are being maintained, serviced and cleaned properly.
What is offensive to one person may be acceptable to another. They may be easily detected, annoying or unpleasant, but we cannot deal with all odours. The odour would need to be a persistent problem. Despite someone's best intentions, the nature of the work they carry out may mean the odour is unavoidable.
In our investigations, we consider:
- Type of odour
- How long it lasts
- How often it occurs
- Time of day
- Wind strength and direction.
You can report nuisance odours via our online portal.
