THE smell of roast crackling is causing a stink in a village.
Residents of Carrville, on the outskirts of Durham City, are complaining of smells from a catering company in High Street.
Executive Catering started as an outside catering business in 1986, mostly preparing sandwiches and buffet food.
A meeting of Durham County Council’s planning committee was told that the rise in popularity of hog roasts has led to complaints from neighbours.
Nine letters of objection were sent to the committee, complaining of the smell of hogs roasting on the premises, noise from fridges and freezers in the yard, and the look of the premises in a residential area.
Executive Catering wants to install an extraction unit and put up a taller flue to take the smells away.
Some residents claimed the company does not have permission to prepare hot food on the premises, but the council’s planning department said the original planning permission granted in the 1980s did include hot food.
Philip Hewitson, who runs the business with his father, said: “We are a family business employing people from the local area.
“We want to be good neighbours, but residents have to understand that to survive we need to provide what the market wants.
“Roasting of hogs only takes place on Thursdays and Fridays from 7am to 5pm.
“We are hopeful the new extraction unit and taller flue will be successful in dispersing the smell higher up in the atmosphere.”
Mr Hewitson added that the company would work with environmental health officers, to reduce the humming noise from the fridges and freezers.
Councillors approved the flue and extractor unit, with a condition that it can only be operated between 7am and 5pm.
Twitter: @sunderlandecho