A PUNGENT smell which spread across the borough last week prompted concerned residents to call the council.

But the source of the foul odour was soon sniffed out by the environmental health team.

They discovered that chicken manure, which was being spread on fields in east Oakley by local farmers, was causing the big stink.

The borough council’s environmental health manager Tom Payne said: “We received a number of calls of an unpleasant odour between Tuesday and Friday last week.

“We investigated the concerns raised by residents and determined the smell is the result of the spreading and turning in of chicken manure on fields in east Oakley.

“This is something that happens around the same time every year as farmers in the area fertilise their land."