Legal action threatened over 'Westbury Whiff'

A waste management firm has been threatened with legal action by government inspectors after the return of a smell at one of their household waste facilities.

The Environment Agency (EA) said it was considering taking enforcement action against Hills Waste Solutions (HWS) which runs the Northacre Mechanical Biological Treatment plant on Stephenson Road in Westbury, Wiltshire.

HWS said the smell, dubbed the 'Westbury Whiff' by people living nearby, returned after a fault was found in its newly-installed bio-filter and it was continuing to work with the EA on the issue.

An EA spokesperson said the site was "currently not compliant with the conditions of its environmental permit".

The spokesperson added: "We have independently observed an increase in odour this week which we attribute to these ongoing bio-filter failures."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), people living nearby have been complaining about the smell for at least 12 years with the EA receiving more than 500 complaints about the plant in a six-month period in 2021.

In September 2025, Hills said it had "upgraded the site's bio-filter and installed additional extraction equipment" after the EA said it was "not taking all appropriate measures to reduce odour and remained in breach of its permit conditions".

In May, people in Westbury described the smell as "nauseating" and said it had left many of them feeling unwell.

Following the return of the smell the EA spokesperson said: "We have made clear to the operator that this situation is unacceptable and have required immediate corrective action.

"As a result, we are considering enforcement action and have instructed Hills to resolve the issues with the bio-filter as a matter of urgency."

The EA spokesperson said it would keep an increased level of supervision at the plant, which turns waste into fuel, until it was satisfied the problems had been fully resolved and any control measures were working reliably.

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