The Environment Agency has set up an air quality monitoring station to test a noxious odour which has been plaguing residents on nearby villages for months.

Residents in Aycliffe Village and Brafferton have been concerned by the potential long term health implications of the awful smell coming from Aycliffe Quarry.

It has been an issue for the past six months and residents hope that 24/7 air quality monitoring will properly establish what they are breathing in.

The new air quality monitoring station is expected to be operational by the end of the week.

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The Ashcourt Group, which runs Aycliffe Quarry, is continuing to carry out work to cap areas of their site and install gas wells to reduce odours.

They had been issued with an enforcement notice containing essential work to reduce the smell from the Environment Agency and the work within that notice was completed last month.

The Environment Agency investigation into odour issues is ongoing.