The Healthcare Environmental Services waste treatment plant at the West Gourdie Industrial Estate is under increased scrutiny from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency  after residents and businesses in the area kicked up a stink about odours coming from the building.

The  environmental regulator will step up inspections at the site in light of concerns about the nature of the smell. Dubbed the “West Gourdie whiff,” residents as far away as Douglas, approximately 8km away, have commented on the smell with SEPA confirming it has received numerous complaints. One has come from the director of a business located just metres from Healthcare Environmental Services, and who describes the smell as ‘repugnant’.

He said: “It’s been going on for months now and my wife has said it’s causing her to have sore heads and sore throats.

“The smell is just repugnant and even when I’m going home in the car I can still smell it on me. As soon as I get home I have to have a shower.

“It’s disgusting and when I was driving through to Perth for a meeting recently I was halfway there and I could still smell it on my clothes.”

Healthcare Environmental Services Ltd were unavailable for comment