RESIDENTS who have been plagued by foul smells from a nearby beck have appealed for help from the Environment Agency.

People living in Drybourne Avenue, Shildon, have had problems with the small stream that runs through the bottom of their gardens for years.

They have asked the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water to find a solution to the problem once and for all.

The beck runs through Hackworth Park, Shildon, into the gardens of four residents before it goes underneath tennis courts and out next to a park for toddlers.

Lillian Storey, who has lived in her home for 30 years, said that people were starting to walk past her garden holding their noses because of the smell.

She said: "About a month ago, it started to smell terribly again. It was sewerage and we even had sanitary towels in it.

"We kept hearing people talking about the dreadful smell.

"We have been told it is sewerage but nobody seems to be able to get to the bottom of it.

"We are absolutely fed up and feel we are banging our heads against a brick wall."

Richard Salmon, environment officer for the Environment Agency, confirmed that the problem was being investigated.

He said: "We have sympathy with the residents.

"In the past few weeks, we have been helping Northumbrian Water to carry out a drainage survey and this has identified a number of problems with the sewerage system in the area.

"These include a number of cross-connections where the foul sewer has been connected to the surface water system and a partial collapse of the sewer causing flow restrictions in the system.

"Northumbrian Water will continue this work, which should help solve the problem in this area.

"We have asked Northumbrian Water to jet the beck at the back of the houses on Drybourne Avenue, which should clear the sewage litter that has accumulated and ease the smell."

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said that it was continuing to work with the Environment Agency and that the problem did not stem from the water system itself but from illegal cross-connections which, on some occasions, caused water to overflow into the surface water system and then into the beck.