Questions remain over a mystery smell that plagued Liverpool yesterday
On Wednesday evening, people across Liverpool said they "felt sick" after smelling what they described as "horse or cow poo". Affecting people in Norris Green, Fazakerley, Wavertree, Fairfield, Old Swan, Everton and even as far as Bootle, many said they were forced to close their windows.
But it is still not yet known what exactly caused the smell, although there was much speculation. Dozens took to social media to complain, asking what the "vile" smell could be.
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Some theories included manure being spread over nearby fields or coming from a sewage treatment plant. One person living in Tuebrook said they smelt it around 7pm but it did not last long. Another added: "We smelt it in Maghull around 2pm, and it's creeping through the open windows now here in Litherland."
One ECHO reader said: "I was in Hope Street by LIPA and I could smell it there. It had the stench of horse poop", as another wrote: "Yes can smell it really bad in the Liverpool 25 area. It stinks like horse manure."
Whilst there has not been any official cause of the mystery smell, many people were quick to come up with their own ideas about why it occurred. Bernie G suggested the collapsed water pipe last weekend, as they said: "So there was a collapsed drain that flooded roads around Litherland and meant many people lost their water supply. Doesn't look as though only the fresh water supply pipe was damaged, does it? I wonder how many tons of raw sewage is making its way to the surface?"
The Echo has asked United Utilities if the smell has anything to do with collapsed water mains or sewers and is waiting to hear back.
Another user, named thefarside, said: "Take a walk past Lydiate along the Cheshire Lines where the farmers grow crops and feed the land nutrients in the form of animal waste before planting at different times of the year. The waste is delivered in bio tankers (it used to come along the canal off the horses on the Liverpool streets) and the farmer puts it in tanks of water and brews it for weeks to form as much bacteria as possible which is good for the soil but it really stinks.
"The farmer sprays it over the fields and if you live down wind of half a square mile of this stuff sprayed onto the ground your nose will know about it. The smell stops when it goes dry but if it rains and it gets wet before he ploughs the soil over which ever way the wind is blowing gets the bad smell again."
The smell stretched from Tuebrook, to Maghull, Walton Vale and the city centre while South Liverpool appeared unaffected.
Do you have a theory? Let us know in the comments below.
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