A FOREST business which disposes of farmers' fallen stock has been given 10 days to do enough about odour controls to satisfy a judge if it wants to continue operating.

Paul Yarworth, who also attends to dying animals and disposes of them at his Newnham-on-Severn yard, says the Forest Environmental Health-prompted move poses huge difficulties for local farmers, a view echoed by the Forest's sheep badgers.

Mr Yarworth says he feels frustrated at every turn after seeking planning permission for an extension which would contain any odours.

He now has to truck dead animals on a daily basis to a disposal facility at Leek in Staffordshire, a six-hour road trip given good traffic conditions.

"While we are making this trip I cannot be out doing my job on farms," he says.

"The frustrating thing is that every time we have agreed with Hayden Brooks of Environmental Health to measures to contain any odour, the council has back-tracked.

"It is not good enough. What we need from the council is cooperation. I have an odour emissions consultant with 25 years' experience but we still cannot get an agreement on planning from the council, who should be working with us, not against us.

"I don't think many people these days have any real idea of the needs of farmers, yet wherever you have stock you inevitably have dead animals to dispose of.

"I think people think we do what we like but I operate under strict conditions imposed by Defra and Trading Standards.

"There's a welfare issue too with animals that are sick or in pain. I can go out and put them out of their misery and dispose of them in a matter of hours – but not while I'm making a six-hour trip. I just can't get on with things."

Secretary of the Forest Commoners Association Mick Holder said local sheep owners and farmers now faced a huge problem.

"It is a vital service. Typically the council has taken action without putting anything in its place."

He said it would have been better for he council to respond in a positive way, perhaps by helping Mr Yarworth find an alternative site for his business or attempting to seek a soution to the smell.

A Forest of Dean District Council spokeswoman said: "The council has applied for a Court Order to prohibit a smell nuisance from Orchard Court, Ruddle. This application has yet to be concluded and it is naturally inappropriate to comment at this stage."