Residents in a tower block said they have been left gagging at the smell of sewage from a blocked waste pipe.
The stench of human waste has left people in the block feeling physically sick for the past three weeks, amidst failed attempts to fix the problem.
Pleck House tower in Druids Heath, Birmingham, has been blighted by the poo problem for days with the smell reportedly winding all the way up its 12 floors.
Resident Olly Armstrong said the odour "smells of sewage and death" as council bosses pledged to fix the problem.
"Sewage water has been leaking and pooling across the ground floor entrance area, with the smell rising all the way through the tower block to the 12th floor," Mr Armstrong said.
"The smell was so bad he thought he was going to vomit.
"We spoke to tenants who said it had been reported a number of times.
"The smell reaches all the way up to the 12th floor. I wish I could record the smell because you would be horrified."
Some 49 of the flats are occupied, many by young families., Birmingham Live reports.
Mr Armstrong added: "People are placed here to live and this should be a safe secure place.
"The council's responsibility is to its tenants and their health and care should be paramount. This should not be happening."
Dave Stamp, from the community's local forum, said members had been visiting the block to check in with local residents about their housing conditions and came across the sewage 'flood'.
"The smell is unbearable," he said. "Tenants say it's been like this for over two weeks."
In a video shot inside the tower block, he said: "I walked through the door and instantly was hit by this gag-inducing smell that smells very much like sewage."
Water can be heard leaking in, he said, with flies all over the place.
Birmingham City Council meanwhile has apologised and claimed it's urgently trying to fix the issue, which has been attributed to a blocked sewage pipe and a problem inside one of the flats.
The appalling smell however is not the only problem blighting residents in the block, with damp and disrepair in communal areas also causing a headache.
Rebecca Winson, from the New Economics Foundation, said residents in Druids Heath are caught up in regeneration plans which will eventually see some of the tower blocks demolished and new homes put up.
She described the current situation as "sickening", adding: "It takes quite a lot to shock me but a fortnight of raw sewage, in a building full of young families, being simply shrugged off by a council is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen."
A recently-elected councillor had promised to look at the matter "urgently", she said, "but the fact remains that this issue was first reported by residents three weeks ago".
"It shouldn’t take campaigning to fix health hazards."
Coun Julien Pritchard, from Birmingham City Council, said: "This is absolutely atrocious. It should go without saying residents should not be faced with sewage leaks in the ground floor of their tower block.
"Yet again we see terrible council housing conditions in Druids Heath and unacceptable delays in getting repairs sorted. It shouldn't take the involvement of myself, campaigners and others to help get repairs like this done."
The council said it had been trying to resolve the issue in conjunction with Severn Trent Water as the issue related to a blocked mains pipe.
In a statement, it said: "We are extremely sorry that the residents at Pleck Tower have been subjected to this leak and associated smell.
"The cause is a blockage further along the main drain which we have raised and been working to clear in conjunction with Severn Trent Water.
"We raised the blockage with them on a number of occasions and it was cleared but kept coming back. During our most recent visit a break on the stack in a flat, where a blockage had previously been cleared, was discovered.
"We have carried out a temporary repair and are carrying out a permanent fix as a follow-up."
A spokeswoman for Severn Trent Water said the problem was in connection with a council pipe rather than one of theirs, but has offered to help with the matter as a gesture of goodwill.
