Spelthorne Borough Council

Providing Quality Services to the People of
Ashford, Laleham, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell & Sunbury

Odour nuisance

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Over recent years, the number of odour nuisance complaints to Local Authorities by members of the public has increased. Anything with a strong smell that lasts a long while can cause discomfort and may be considered an odour nuisance. It doesn’t have to be a “bad” smell – a normally “pleasant” odour may become unacceptable if the duration or frequency of exposure increases.

Investigating odour nuisance

For a statutory nuisance to occur “a nuisance has to interfere materially with the well being of the residents, that is affect their well being, even though it may not be prejudicial to health.”

The following will be considered by the Council when investigating an alleged statutory odour nuisance:
All suspected statutory odour nuisance scenarios from commercial premises would be investigated by at least three random visits by an officer from Environmental Health to identify the source of the odour and witness the extent of the emission.


It is not possible to completely remove all odours – those emanating from restaurants for example – but through best practice emissions may be reduced. If the origin of the odour is found to be already operating best practice methods, then the Local Authority has little remit to enforce change.

Commercial kitchen extraction systems

Best practice says that release from a kitchen extraction unit should be through a duct which is 1m above the height of the eaves. The flue terminal should ideally be positioned upright without a cap. The efflux velocity should be at least 10m/s. Adsorption onto activated carbon filters is recommended for fume temperatures below 40 degrees C

The guidance on the control of odour and noise from commercial kitchen exhaust systems (external link) explains what should be submitted to the planning department when applying to change the extraction system in a commercial kitchen.
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