RESIDENTS of Lydford are considering withholding their water rates over a persistent smell of sewerage in the village. After six years of odour problems in the village and meetings with agencies which have come to nothing, residents say they have had enough. Steve Powne from Lydford Parish Council said despite meetings with South West Water, West Devon Borough Council, Devon County Council, the Environment Agency and private businesses they were no further forward. He said: ?The parish council instigated an odour monitoring system in 2000 with all houses from the war memorial to the castle. This identified the seriousness of the problem which can only be described as frequent and very noxious, and it affected most houses.? Mr Powne said that although South West Water had carried out improvement works to the main sewerage treatment works a few years ago, there was still a problem. ?We are in a situation where residents have no faith in the various government organisations to sort this out and are now actively considering withholding their water rates. It is intolerable that the residents of Lydford should have to put up with this any longer.? The parish councillor claims one of the main causes is the massive holding tank at the Caravan and Camping Club which he alleges causes a smell in the village every time it is pumped out two or three times a day. ?It also has an adverse effect on the treatment works and the smell penetrates out,? he said. When the club site was full it effectively doubled the number of people on the main sewerage system. But chief environmental health officer for West Devon Borough Council George Greenaway, who attended a parish council meeting last week where the subject was discussed, said staff had been unable to witness or identify the source of odour affecting dwellings near the war memorial. ?The sewerage system serving the caravan park has been investigated on a number of occasions and recommended improvements have been carried out,? said Mr Greenaway. ?The caravan park system has been emptied on two occasions and this does not seem to have had any effect regarding complaints and I have been unable to confirm that this system is directly the cause of the problems.? Results of a detailed study of the caravan site and sewerage treatment works systems in August by consultants for South West Water were awaited, said Mr Greenaway, who also added that he would be recommending South West Water carried out a detailed camera survey and assessment of the whole sewerage system.? ?It is not something we can get a quick solution for, but we are looking to cure it,? he said. A spokeswoman for South West Water confirmed the company was investigating the problem and apologised to local residents if they had experienced any odours occurring near Lydford sewerage treatment works. The Caravan and Camping Club said it was sympathetic to the problems of bad odours in the village and had worked hard to make sure no bad smells come from its drainage system. ?All inspections by environmental health, South West Water and independent consultants have concluded that it is up to standard and there is no evidence it is causing any problems in the village,? said a spokeswoman.