A MYSTERIOUS stench has been plaguing residents in a Hampshire neighbourhood for days.

Angry residents in Hedge End have said the stink is so bad that it goes through their houses when their doors have just been opened.

One resident has even been forced to move to their family’s house to escape the smell.

The Ferndale resident said: “It started on Monday evening and as I went to work I thought there was a chemical smell. The smell got worse and at ten o’clock there was a real pong and my eyes were stinging.

“I felt so breathless as well because I have asthma and I had to go into the warehouse at work to get fresh air. It was horrific at work because we had to keep the doors open and we kept smelling the stench.”

She added: “From my front door it smells and as I get nearer to my car it gets stronger and stronger. It did not smell like proper manure and it smells like something else.

“I want to know what the smell is because it is not neighbourly to muck spread in the evening or when the land is dry.”

Another resident said: “There is a really terrible smell in the area and it comes inside the house when the door has only been opened for a minute. This stench needs to be investigated.”

Another resident added: “There has been a terrible stench in the air all around Hedge End for nearly three days and nights now. It permeates through the house and someone needs to come to the area and investigate.”

A spokesperson from Eastleigh Borough Council said: “We have had several complaints from the public and our Environmental Health team have been investigating this over the past couple of days. They are trying to get to the bottom of the exact source and who the landowner is, or who is responsible for the smell.”

The incident comes after Fareham Council launched an investigation into finding the source of an unusual pong last year.