I SHOULD like to correct a few errors in your article concerning the smell in Hawes (D&S Times, Feb 26).

Yes, you are right, we are kicking up a stink. The smell from the sewers arrived much earlier than 2009, however – the stink has pervaded our town regularly for more than 40 years.

The “stink” is not just a nasty smell. It has been positively identified by Yorkshire Water as hydrogen sulphide.

This is a highly toxic and irritating gas. Our primary school is in the midst of this noxious gas as well as residents and businesses. What effect does this have on our health?

Our inadequate sewerage system was installed in the early 1900s. Since then, a youth hostel, more than 100 additional homes, the ever-expanding Wensleydale Creamery, not to mention the huge increase in tourism, have all greatly added to the volume of effluent.

Around the town, drains are sometimes blocked and manhole covers forced off, allowing raw sewage to flow over roads and footpaths. We have informed the relevant authorities on numerous occasions, but no lasting solution has been found.

We all pay water rates for this service and Yorkshire Water returned a huge profit in the last financial year. So come on, Yorkshire Water, let’s see you spend some of this money in Hawes so that we can smell sweet again.

Val Ward, Hawes