Campaigners fighting odour problems at an animal-rendering plant have warned there will be outrage if Bradford Council does not use a ‘secret’ report to help rid them of the stench they say is blighting their lives.

The Stop Omega Stink group is already seeking advice from the Local Government Ombudsman on what action it can take if the Council’s environmental enforcement officers fail to solve problems they claim come from Omega Proteins at Erlingsworks, between Thornton and Denholme.

Bradford Council had employed a consultant to investigate complaints from residents about the offensive smells, but decided at a meeting earlier this week not to make the whole of the report public in case it risked any future attempts to successfully take Omega Proteins to court.

Instead, environmental officers are now working on a carefully-worded summary of the report which will be put in the public domain.

The decision to hold back the full report sparked a heated debate at the environment and waste management overview and scrutiny committee because legal concerns about avoiding future court complexities had not been raised with members earlier.

Councillor Alun Griffiths (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) said if it was only the cost of complicated court action that Council officers were worried about, then money alone was not a good-enough reason not to make the report public.

Councillor Val Slater (Lab, Royds) told the meeting it was a Catch 22 situation. She said: “We don’t trust the company to do what they say in their action plan in response to the report. Because of their history it’s likely we will have to take them to court in future.”

Reacting to the situation, Lynette Cadamarteri, of the Stop Omega Stink group, acknowledged the Council had to be cautious about releasing the contents of the report, but she also urged it to be robust in dealing with complaints about the company.

An action plan by Omega Proteins has been put on the public register conceding improvements are needed, including a replacement bio-filter at the plant.

No-one at Omega Proteins was available for comment yesterday.