The manager of First Choice Foods, Victor Michael, says he has not yet received an official letter from health authorities regarding waste from the Anchorage Road supermarket.
In a letter addressed to Michael and dated August 24, Chief Health Inspector Sharon Martin said she was giving bosses 14 days to start taking steps towards eliminating the odour emanating from liquid waste.
In the letter, Martin said she had a face-to-face discussion with the manager two months ago about what she termed “the daily incessant flow of untreated effluent”.
It was followed by a detailed inspection that revealed “an accumulation of stagnant water”, which the CBH likened to a cesspool.
Martin said that the smell is so bothersome that she had received several complaints from the public along with threats to protest outside her office unless action is taken.
Michael was told he had two weeks from the receipt of the letter to either find a way to absorb the fluids daily, set up storage holding tanks for the waste water or install a sewage treatment plant.
Martin confirmed to Observer that the letter was written by her but declined to comment further.
However, Michael said he had yet to receive an official letter from the Central Board of Health and therefore could not comment publicly.
For years, customers and residents in the neighbouring communities of Yorks and Old Runway have been complaining about the stench coming from the gutters outside the supermarket.