Householders in Worlingham are once again being plagued by a nasty niff that is creeping into their homes.Last year the Worlingham whiff left villagers feeling a little green in the gills after the smell of biosolids being spread by farmers on their fields filled the air.

Householders in Worlingham are once again being plagued by a nasty niff that is creeping into their homes.

Last year the Worlingham whiff left villagers feeling a little green in the gills after the smell of biosolids being spread by farmers on their fields filled the air.

The sewage sludge was being supplied by Anglian Water and, after being contacted by Waveney MP Bob Blizzard, the company agreed to treat it to remove some of the smell and only make deliveries during the cooler months.

Now the village, and other areas as far away as Halesworth, is once again suffering after a stench arrived on Monday.

Some people feared last year's problem has reared its smelly head again but environmental health officers believe it has a new source - turkey manure.

Helen Smith, who lives Worlingham, said: “It's absolutely gut wrenching. I know they have got to fertilise the fields - I'm a country girl - but there are smells and there are smells. It makes me feel sick thinking about it. If this is going to be the start of days of it, it's going to be horrendous.”

Shoppers in Beccles town centre yesterday also noticed it. Karen King, who lives in the town, said she had smelt it in her house. She said: “I blamed the dog. It's all in the house because we had the windows open. You can't get rid of it indoors.”

Helen Thwaites noticed it at her home and in the town centre. She said: “It was horrible. The hotter it gets the worse it's going to be.”

Waveney District Council's environmental health department said it had received more than 25 calls from people complaining about the smell.

A spokesman said: “We believe it is probably turkey manure, or similar, being spread on fields around Ilketshall and the surrounding area. Incidents like this are common at this time of the year. They cause inconvenience but no risk to health.”

Mrs Smith said the farmers should be more considerate of people living near their fields. She added: “You can't even sit in your garden. We don't get much of a summer anyway - why do it in July when the weather is really nice?”

Waveney said it would look into the problem to make sure land owners were trying to minimise the smell.

A spokesman said: “There is a code of practice requiring farmers to incorporate spread manure as soon as is reasonably practicable to keep the smell problem to a minimum. If and when we locate the source, we will check that the responsible people are complying with the code of practice. However, this does not mean that we will be able to stop the smells altogether.”