Mysterious smell like 'someone burning Lego'

A collection of villages in Kent have been troubled by a mysterious noxious burning smell for nearly a month.

Residents of the Dartford villages, which include Horton Kirby, South Darenth and Sutton-at-Hone, have reported to the local council that the fumes occur at night but linger well into the next day.

George Holt, who represents the area on Dartford Borough Council (DBC), says people have told him: "It's awful having to keep your windows closed at night when it's 30 degrees. It smells like someone is burning Lego."

Holt says the council's environmental health team "have been throwing everything they can at this" and carrying out of hours investigations into the source of the smell.

Nick Marsh from Sutton-at-Hone says he is unsure where the fumes are coming from but says they are having an impact on life in the villages.

"It smells a bit like somebody's been running a large-scale bonfire overnight and that the embers which have been percolating for several hours and are still burning somewhere some distance away," he said.

"If you've got your windows open to cool the house, you've also got this horrible acrid smell coming in, it's miserable."

Mother-of-two, Amy Wanstall, also from Sutton-at-Hone says her family are having their sleep affected by the smell.

"We get woken up in the night and it's been so strong that it almost smells like something's on fire in our house, so we've had to keep the windows shut in the evening,," she said.

"It's getting really hot indoors and the smell is just really unpleasant at night time. I've obviously got two little ones so it's not great for them either and we don't know what it is that's burning."

Holt says he is determined to solve the problem saying: "I want a good night's sleep too.

Trust me, it really stinks."

He is encouraging more Dartford villages residents to report the smell to the council's environmental health department so officers can gather more material for their investigation, and he stresses any information shared will be treated confidentially.

Dartford Borough Council told the BBC that they received the first complaint concerning an odour in the South Darenth are on 20 July.

Since then, the Environmental Health Team has been carrying out "extensive enquiries in the area, including late at night and into early morning, and at this stage is yet to find a specific source".

Residents have been asked to keep a diary of any incidents that occur, noting wind direction, date and time to help assist with the identification of any sources.

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