THE stench coming from Mont Cuet tip is a disgrace, according to Vale deputy Tony Spruce. He raised the issue during a Public Services waste meeting.

But the fire which is still burning deep in the tip means that gasses cannot currently be extracted in order to ease the problem. A report on how to extinguish the blaze is expected soon. Mr Spruce went as far as inviting other board members around to his L’Islet home to find out for themselves how bad the problem gets.

‘This board needs to know the situation there is terrible, it really is bad,’ said Deputy Spruce. ‘If this tip was in any other parish in the island it would have been closed down years ago. This is a serious complaint. My concern as a board member is that something should be done to sort this problem out.’

He raised the issue with the department months before he became a States member. Deputy Spruce said he did not dispute the fact that people had been taking action, but he wanted to speed the process up.