Pupils moved from classroom as unpleasant odour plagues Sheffield suburb

A class at Nether Edge Primary School were moved because of an unpleasant and overpowering smell over the Nether Edge area.

Resident David Thomas, who lives across from the school on Glen Road, said the smell coincides with a period heavy rainfall and has been effecting the area since 2012.

He said: “About two weeks after heavy rainfall there is always this smell. It’s a public health issue now it is effecting a school.”

Headteacher Matthew Knox said: “We are aware of an unpleasant smell in the local area, which often coincides with heavy rainfall and we have reported this.

“It was quite overpowering so we did decant a class into an empty classroom, but this was a one off. I want to reassure parents there is no risk at all to pupils.”

Yorkshire Water said odour was down to a failure at a nearby detention tank and technicians were fixing the problem.

A spokesman apologised and said: “Our technicians have identified that the cause of the odour problem is due to a failure at a nearby detention tank, which is used to temporarily store waste water to prevent sewers from over flowing.

“The pumps at this detention tank have failed and as a result the tank is at full capacity and is causing the unpleasant odour.

“To immediately reduce the smell our technicians have emptied the tank, cleaned it, and added odour blockers into nearby sewers.

“As soon as we receive a replacement part we will then fully repair the pump so the detention tank is back to full operating order and odour free.”

He added it had jet sprayed the sewers near Mr Thomas’ home to improve to improve the sewage flow and reduce the odour.