Enforcement action is being taken by Bradford Council after residents complained of stomach-churning smells emanating from a factory near their homes.

Father-of-five Sultan Maliq, who lives in Stamford Street with his wife and children, aged 18 months to 13, said the unpleasant stench regularly occurred despite previous action by the Council.

"The Council is very sympathetic and when environmental officers have been to the factories, the smell has stopped. But after a few days, it's as bad as ever," he said.

"It comes and goes in bursts of a few minutes to a couple of hours at a time. When it's bad, you just don't want to breathe in. I don't believe it is good for my children."

Bradford Council has served a notice on a business near to Mr Maliq's home but for legal reasons has refused to name the company involved.

A Council spokesman said: "We are aware of the problem concerning an offensive smell coming from business premises in the Hammerton Street area of Bradford.

"A notice has been served asking the business to clear up whatever is causing it. There is now an appeal period in which it can respond."

A number of companies in the area denied they were the source of the smell.

Mohammed Sarwar, director of Yorkshire Poultry Products in Hammerton Street, said: "There was a problem in the area a couple of weekends ago but it wasn't from my company. There can be a smell if skips are left in the hot weather for a time. We have been making sure this hasn't happened over the last few months."

A spokesman for the Waddington and Co rendering plant in Buck Street, said: "We have not had any problems for a while. We work hard to reduce any minor problems and are improving all the time."

A spokesman at Bradford Hide and Skin in Dryden Street, said: "I can assure people that the smells are not emanating from our premises."