Revealing England’s smelliest locations for business complaints  

Barnsley Borough Council is the smelliest area in England according to a new report by Direct365 

South Yorkshire cities topped in the top five business-related smell complaints 

The report analysed more than 12,500 complaints across 68 council areas in England  

 

A new report has revealed the location and prevalence of business-related, nuisance odours. Unpleasant smells can and should be avoided. It is business owners’ responsibility to ensure their activity isn’t negatively impacting the local community. 

Not only are they unpleasant but, they’re bad for public health, ranging across cleaning chemicals, sewage plants, and commercial waste which can present severe health risks. That’s why The national smell and odour report was created by, essentials service provider Direct365. 

The report analysed more than 12,500 complaints across council areas in England (46 councils responded to Freedom Of Information and Environmental Information Regulation requests) to reveal the locations with the most smell issues.  

Many complaints in the report came from the public due to business practices in the area. Formal complaints to respective councils were made in the hope of solving the issue. Prolonged exposure to nuisance smells is not only annoying but impacts human quality of life and health. 

Top 10 smelliest locations in England 

Council areas with the most nuisance odours 2020-2021 

Two South Yorkshire cities in the top five 

Two South Yorkshire cities (Barnsley and Sheffield) featured in the top five smelliest regions, alongside Gateshead, Hounslow, and Birmingham. Barnsley Borough Council had 178 complaints across the two years, the equivalent of 16 complaints per 1,000 people—the majority of which came from business-related smells.  

Council areas with the most nuisance odours 2020-2021 

	Council area	Total number of complaints per 1,000 people	Total number of complaints in 2020-21	Most common smell type (Business / domestic / unspecified)
1	Barnsley Borough Council	16.01	178	Business
2	Gateshead Borough Council	3.99	809	Domestic
3	Hounslow Council	3.53	957	Unspecified
4	Birmingham City Council	2.80	3,191	Domestic
5	Sheffield City Council	2.17	1,246	Domestic
6	Westminster Council	1.75	457	Unspecified
7	Bexley Council	1.50	372	Domestic
8	South Tyneside Borough Council	1.39	206	Domestic
9	Kirklees Borough Council	1.24	522	Domestic
10	Tameside Borough Council	1.07	243	Business
11	Sandwell Borough Council	0.99	325	Business
12	Trafford Borough Council	0.88	207	Business
13	Havering Council	0.86	223	Domestic
14	Wirral Borough Council	0.85	272	Business
15	Southwark Council	0.80	255	Unspecified
16	Sunderland City Council	0.77	214	Domestic
17	Leeds City Council	0.69	537	Business
18	Brent Council	0.65	205	Domestic
19	Calderdale Borough Council	0.64	135	Unspecified
20	Stockport Borough Council	0.61	83	Business

Barnsley is the worst for business-related smell complaints. 

Barnsley is the worst for business smells, while Birmingham has the biggest problem with domestic odours. Tameside, Sandwell and Trafford Borough council also appear to be areas struggling with smell complaints.  

Out of the 12,501 complaints analysed in this report, more than half came from domestic sources alone—6,694 complaints in total.  

The remaining figures make up 3,473 business-related odour complaints and 2,334 that were unspecified.  

Karl Bantleman, Head of Digital at Direct365, said, “Businesses have a responsibility to keep their business practices aligned with maintaining low levels of pollution and smells. Maintaining the public health of our neighbourhoods is imperative, especially if any of these smells have the potential to be detrimental to public health. However, this also boils down to the public’s efforts, and they must keep their local public areas hygienic and safe. Therefore, good waste storage and disposal are vital to ensuring nuisance smells are kept to a minimum and the surrounding environment is more pleasant.” 

Be mindful that poor waste solutions lead to bad smells, pests, general untidiness, and potential legal challenges. Direct365 offers waste management services and products to help avoid these issues.  

You can read the full report findings on the Direct365 blog.