Unpleasant and unknown smell around Newark remains and ongoing mystery

An unpleasant smell around Newark is lingering and the source of the odour — described by residents as a mix between sewage, cannabis, vomit or sugar beet — is an ongoing mystery.

Clueless and fed-up residents across the district have made complaints about the smell to Newark and Sherwood District Council, but the authority also has no idea where it is coming from.

Some have said the smell has been around for years, while others added they had only noticed it emerge recently around specific areas of Newark including Yorke Drive, Strawberry Hall Lane, Winthorpe Road, Northgate, Barnbygate, Kirkgate, Appletongate and the town centre.

The stench, however, has been reported by residents to be present from as far as Coddington, Collingham and Brough.

Writing on Facebook, referring to the Winthorpe Road estate, a resident said: "Estate behind Homebase. It stinks bloody awful. No getting away from it."

One person wrote the smell was so bad one night they had to shut their windows because it was keeping them awake.

"Think it's sewage or if sugar beet have ponds around it could be that," another posted. "Used to smell a lot several years ago."

But others dismissed it could be sugar beet and said it was out of production time.

One other resident added: "I thought it was rape seed — the yellow flowers in the fields."

The district council said it had been in touch with some local industries and businesses that had been a source of odour in the past, all of which reported to be doing nothing differently.

A spokesman said: “We have received a number of calls relating to an unpleasant smell around Newark.

"When we receive a report relating to the smell we are asking those residents to record timings and wind direction to help us plot out the location of the source.”

If members of the public notice the smell, they could also inform the Advertiser at news@newarkadvertiser.co.uk of its location.