SHARPNESS residents are angry that complaints about the in-vessel composting plant, which has been operating since May, are being ignored.

Residents and boat owners who moor at Sharpness Marina have drawn up a list of complaints about the plant, which includes an obnoxious smell, a massive increase in the amount of flies in the area and unidentified waste matter spilling from the refuse trucks delivering to the plant.

They are furious that despite repeated complaints to Stroud District Council, nothing appears to be being done.

Brian Williams, who co-owns Sharpness Marina, said: "At times the smell is horrendous. Some days we have to close all the doors and windows.

"We don’t even know what is in the air to make it smell so bad – for all we know it could be damaging our health.

"We get constant complaints from people on the public mooring and it’s damaging our business.

"And it’s not just the smell – the boats are full of flies. It’s like a plague."

Tracy Angell, who owns Big Fish boats, added: "It’s an acrid smell that makes you want to vomit.

"If the bio filter worked like it they said it would then it wouldn’t be a problem. They need to sort it out or shut the factory."

Moorer Paul Ibberson added: "We’ve all got a vested interest. Yes, it’s a working dock, but this has nothing to do with the dock – it’s a factory, and it stinks round the clock."

Nick Helme, managing director of Bioganix, which runs the plant, said: "The Sharpness plant conforms with all environmental legislation and is monitored by our staff on a daily basis.

"One stage of our odour scrubbing process is a ‘live Biofilter’, the performance of which improves as it beds down.

"We do not operate our own transport fleet and it would seem that certain issues have arisen which relate to the performance of the haulage of the waste to the site and the compost away from the site. We will be discussing performance improvements with these suppliers."

A spokesman for Stroud District Council said: "It is hoped that once the filters are working at maximum efficiency, any odour associated with the plant will be reduced.

"In the meantime, environmental health will continue to follow up any calls made to them with the facility management."