A VILLAGE is kicking up a stink after noxious smells have been making their lives a misery.
Drains in St Mabyn have been full of foul water for days, but attempts by residents and the parish council to get various authorities to take action have failed.
Villagers say the powerful smells have been unbearable, particularly during last week's heatwave.
They claim the problem has been caused by the failure of the sewage system installed at a newly built housing estate, but the estate developers, Linden Homes, say the stink is simply down to high summer temperatures.
Resident Audrey Cooke said the situation where she lives in Station Road is particularly bad.
"The smell in this heat has been absolutely appalling," she said. We do not have mains sewage disposal in this village. All properties have independent septic disposal facilities.
"However, the new housing estate on the perimeter of the village has its own sewage treatment plant that has stopped working, and all the residue is therefore being directed through the clean water pipes in Station Road.
"Various people, including parish councillors, have contacted the local authorities, without success," said Mrs Cooke.
Another resident, Sheila Menhennit, said: "There is a terrible stink coming up from the drains which has been in the village for days, and we have been trying to get hold of Cornwall Council, and South West Water to do something, but nothing seems to have happened."
Both Cornwall Council's environmental health department and the Environment Agency said they had sent officers to St Mabyn to investigate the stink. Both said the odours came from the estate's pumping station.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We have been out and investigated the complaints of odour and reports of raw sewage in the street. We could not locate any discharge into the watercourse.
"The issue is an odour from the pump station which serves the new housing estate. The developers have taken responsibility for further investigation, alongside the environmental health department from the council."
A Linden Homes spokesman said: "As a result of the heatwave, there is an unpleasant odour coming from the pumping station at Greenwix Parc in St Mabyn. We would like to reassure the local residents that there is no raw sewage, blockage or overflow coming from the pumping station.