For more than a decade residents living close to the city centre have been plagued by wafts of undesirable odours.

But soon residents could breathe easy after a water company pledged £1m for a project to finally eliminate the ‘Sealand Stink’.

This week Welsh Water vowed to banish the pong, by improving the 'sludge processes' at the Chester Wastewater Treatment Works on Sealand Road.

The news has been welcomed by community leaders, who have battled to banish the pungent smells, which have affected residents, businesses and motorists.

Welsh Water hope the works will banish the problematic smell once and for all by October.

They will then move on to a second, associated project to increase the capacity of the sewage works, allowing the facility to cope with the rising number of houses in the area.

Cllr Lynn Riley, executive member for localities at Cheshire West and Chester Council welcomed the investment, saying it would ‘benefit the local community’.

Nigel Lee, Welsh Water’s catchment manager for North East Wales, said: “We’re pleased that the first phase in the improvements to the wastewater treatment works in Chester is underway.

“We realise work of this nature can sometimes cause disruption and we will do our best to keep this to a minimum.”