Bosses at a controversial chicken slaughterhouse, who have been accused of blighting a village near Bingley with its “horrendous stink”, have been told to clean up their act.

Chesterfield Poultry, which has a slaughterhouse in Station Road, Harecroft, near Wilsden , has been served with a notice by the Environment Agency after being caught breaching the terms of its operating permit five times during an inspector’s visit this week.

Tim Shaw, of the Environment Agency’s pollution prevention control team, yesterday confirmed two of the breaches were related to “odours” from the slaughterhouse.

The Telegraph & Argus understands that, if the company continues to breach its operating conditions, it could be hit with a fine of up to ten per cent of its turnover.

Mr Shaw said: “We have notified the company of these breaches and have asked them to remedy them. We expect that this may help to improve the situation, but it is unlikely to eliminate odours from the site.”

However, fed-up villagers say they can no longer put up with the smells.

Robert Armstrong, a former parish councillor, said: “It is like living with a dead rat, it is that bad. If you could see it, the stench would be visible from space. It should have never been given a licence in the first place. Everybody wants it closed.” David Driver, 67, of Old Allen Road, said the stink made people “feel sick” and means villagers cannot sit outside or hang out washing.

Bradford Councillor Michael Ellis said people’s lives “were being blighted” by the horrendous smells from the slaughterhouse at The Haven Poultry Farm, and called for the Environment Agency to take more action if the problem is not resolved.

Coun Ellis (Con, Bingley Rural) said: “What I am going to do is speak to the residents, speak to the parish council and the company. I hope that they will be able to take a responsible attitude to their neighbours. We can then have a hotline so that the residents can contact a designated person at the company to report a terrible smell, so they can go out there and, hopefully, immediately stop it.”