A SLUDGE company which piled 800 tonnes of foul-smelling ‘human waste’ on Kilmacolm farmland has been given an ultimatum to remove it.

Contractor James McCaig Farms deposited vast quantities of a sewage-based fertiliser concoction on land at Kilmacolm over a 12-day period.

But furious residents who kicked up a stink about the putrid pong are now set to get a breath of fresh air from the cake-like substance.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) bosses have stepped in with a strict 21-day deadline for the sludge to be removed from an acre-sized dump site at Killochries Farm.

The Tele understands that letters have been delivered to households informing people of a period of intense activity on the village’s narrow countryside roads.

One resident said today: “We’ve been told that there will be two to three lorries each taking away between six and nine loads a day until we are finally rid of this stuff.

“The work is to be carried out between 7am and 6pm until it’s all away. We shouldn’t have had to put up with it in the first place but at least it will be gone soon.” Another villager told the Tele: “There are concerns about heavy lorries going up and down the road and the obvious inconvenience that will cause, but it is something we will just have to put up with.

“It is important that this awful sludge is removed.” The Tele understands that the removal operation got underway on Monday.

We reported last month how the stench from the ‘de-watered sewage sludge’ was wafting across the countryside amid soaring summer temperatures and warm breezes.

Local Conservative councillor and Depute Provost of Inverclyde, David Wilson, today welcomed the latest development in the saga.

Councillor Wilson said: “This stuff needs to be removed. You just cannot leave 800 tonnes of human waste lying in a field above Kilmacolm.” The council confirmed today that it issued a statutory odour control notice after being informed that the original intention had been to spread the sludge over fields.

A spokesman for the local authority said: “We are also involved with the removal process to ensure, as much as possible, that there is as minimum an impact of the odour on the neighbouring community as possible.

“The enforcement controls for this waste material remain with SEPA.” The removal comes after Killochries Farm owner, Iain Graham, faced a storm of protest over a second sludge dump at another farm he owns near Bishopton.

Renfrewshire Council confirmed last month that it had reported Mr Graham to the procurator fiscal over the stench created when the muck was spread over his land by McCaig’s.

A member of Mr Graham’s staff today said he did not wish to comment, adding: “This is a matter wholly for McCaig’s and SEPA.” Mr Graham said last month: “McCaig’s looks for farmers willing to take it on for one occasion.

“I’m just the receiving farmer and I’m taking all the flak here.” SEPA today confirmed that it had served a ‘final warning letter’ on McCaig’s on 15 July after monitoring officers declared the odour from the stockpile of sludge was ‘offensive’.

The authority followed that up with a formal notice under the Environmental Protection Act, requiring the removal of the smelly substance.

A SEPA spokesman said: “We have been advised by James McCaig Farms that they plan to remove the waste from the site rather than spread it at this location.” Falkirk-based McCaig Farms — a recycling, farming and quarrying company — today said that it was its decision to remove the sludge from Kilmacolm.

Spokesman Andrew McCaig said: “After consultation with the local environmental health officer and SEPA, we decided that it is best to remove the bio-solids from Killochries. We requested permission from SEPA, who have facilitated the removal with a 21 day notice.” Mr McCaig added: “We are aware of public concerns surrounding Killochries and we always take into account the local community’s views.

“We intend to complete the removal by 26 August.”