New Brancepeth pig farm kicks up a stink at Durham planning meeting.

STINKS and squeals from a pig farm are blighting people's lives, a planning meeting heard.

Residents said they could no longer open their windows or enjoy their gardens because of the stench and noise from pigs at Biggin Farm.

Councillors were shown a photograph said to include a giant pile of pig dung at the farm at New Brancepeth, Durham.

Durham County Council's planning committee heard of nearby residents' concerns this week.

Helen Heward from the Eshwood and Hareholm Residential Group said there were 10 homes within 400m of the farm buildings.

She told councillors: "It's fair to say that their lives have been blighted by the use of these barns to house pigs.

"The residents are currently living with the impacts day in day out.

"They have to endure the smell and sound of 650 pigs. They cannot sit in their garden at any time due to the smell."

"The squeal of piglets turns into the scream of pigs. There's no reprieve. It's 24 hours a day.

"Residents can't open their windows, have guests in their garden, hang their washing out.

"One resident explained to me that workmen have refused to work on their house because the noise was so distressing and the smell was so horrendous."

She said at its worst the noise, likened to crying children, meant residents could not talk or take calls in their homes.