Lancaster woman forced from her home because of stench from Supa Skips blaze

Denise Cooper, who lives close to the old Williamson Power Station near Lancaster city centre, said the smell was so bad she had to stay in a hotel for three nights.

The fire started on December 3 and burned for three weeks.

Firefighters are still being called to the scene as waste removal teams uncover pockets of fire.

"I've actually been close to retching... it makes you feel so nauseated," she said.

Ms Cooper lives just a stone's throw from the old power station, which was built in the 1940s and was recently used to store waste from skips run by Supa Skips.

John Rossen, from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said the incident had been "challenging".

"There was 13,000 tonnes of waste within the building - two-thirds of it has now been removed," he said.

"There are still pockets of heat within the waste and, clearly, the ideal situation would be for the waste to be removed."

Lancaster City Council has previously confirmed that it does not have responsibility for the site but has spent £900,000 clearing the burnt waste after the owners went into administration.

The authority has asked the government for urgent help.

Mark Cassidy, the council's planning and climate change officer, said the government had benefitted from the clear-up through landfill tax.

"We've been raising this with government for some considerable time," he said.

"We made a request to waive that landfill tax and HMRC said that there is no mechanism for waiving the tax. That's really disappointing."

A government spokesperson said the city council's request was still being considered.