MYSTERY surrounds the cause of a noxious odour which left residents with stinging eyes and nausea.

Seaford residents were told to stay in and keep doors and windows shut on Friday evening.

The smell was first reported to the authorities at around 6pm on Friday.

One of several people to contact Sussex Police described the smell as being “like burning plastic”.

Jo, who did not want to give her surname, 42, of Barn Rise, Seaford, said she had to stay upstairs in her house as her living room stank of the odour.

She said: “We just got on the drive at 6.45pm, and I thought what it is that smell. It hit us straight away as we got out the car and started making my eyes sting. It was really pungent.

“Then we got in the house, and we could still smell it and we didn’t even have any windows open. One of cats came in reeking of it, you could smell it in their fur. I thought the odour smelt of diesel or paraffin, as use to run a petrol station.” Sussex Police said the odour was first reported in The Ridings area at around 6pm and lingered until about 11pm

Police are continuing to work with other agencies, including the coastguard, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and Lewes Council, to try to determine the cause of the smell.

An East Sussex Fire and Rescue (ESFRS) spokeswoman said: “ESFRS has been unable to ascertain the source of the odour. Members of the public are reminded that if they have any concerns in relation to this odour they should keep doors and windows shut and report it to the fire service.”

George O’Reilly, a hazardous materials officer investigating the smell for the fire service, warned that the smell could return.

He said: “If the source of this smell was something sprayed on the ground for agricultural reasons, it could be as the weather warms up, people will get a whiff of it again.

“Anybody who smells it again or has any concerns should contact the fire service immediately.”

He said emergency services quickly established that there was no risk to public health.