A concerned councillor is kicking up a stink after being plagued by "vile-smelling" drains for three months.

David Gray has had to endure smelly drains outside his home in Highfield Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, every time members of his family use the shower.

And a dozen guests who visited for Christmas even had to put up with the disgusting smell.

The councillor first contacted Yorkshire Water about it in September and believed it would be sorted quickly because he had paid £70 to Homeserve, which provides emergency plumbing and drainage insurance.

But when Homeserve visited, he was told the insurance company "don't deal with smells," said Coun Gray (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe).

He was told to telephone Yorkshire Water - which advertises Homeserve as its recommended plumbing insurers - who came to unblock the main drains outside his home.

Coun Gray thought the stink would have been sorted but when he ran his shower again the mystery smell reappeared.

He again called Homeserve who sent out plumbers on two other occasions to flush the drains and put in a replacement gully but, even then, the smell persisted.

Coun Gray said he and his family were now sick' of having to put up with the problem smell.

He said: "When I run my shower and goes into the drain it smells vile. When I contacted Homeserve it said it was not its responsibility and to contact Yorkshire Water which cleared the perimeter drains.

"They came out and said there was not much they could do and said to speak to Homeserve. They have been out at least three times and have not solved the problem. They have now washed their hands of it. It seems like if it involves spending any money on the problem they don't want to know but they are an insurance company and they should be dealing with it.

"Others will be paying vast amounts of money for the insurance but it is just a waste if they don't deal with these sort of problems."

A Homeserve spokesman said that Coun Gray's policy only covered him for "emergency" call-outs, such as burst pipes or flooding caused by his home plumbing.

The company defines emergency' as sudden or unforeseen damage to the internal plumbing and drainage services or underground external damage which exposes the householder to risk or creates loss of or damage to property or belongings.

However, when contacted by the Telegraph & Argus, the Walsall-based company agreed to send out workers to carry out investigations into the problem by putting a CCTV camera down the smelly drain.

Homeserve spokesman Emma Harvey said: "We received a call from Mr Gray reporting a smell from his drain.

"Mr Gray has an emergency policy and his issue was not covered as part of the policy.

"Last month Mr Gray reported a blocked drain. Homeserve repaired the problem immediately as this is included in his policy. Mr Gray contacted us again to inform us that there was still a smell coming from his drain.

"As a gesture of goodwill, and to ensure Mr Gray can enjoy the holiday period, Homeserve has arranged for an engineer to be sent to his property to investigate further.

"The engineer will use a CCTV camera in the drain to try to ascertain the root of the problem."