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The move forms part of a Government drive to get tough on odour pollution, following a rise in the number of complaints about offensive smells.

The increase has been blamed on changes in the way household waste is disposed of, with a rise in the number of industrial composting sites and recycling centres.

Odour advisers will be selected for their sense of smell. One will be sent to each of the Agency’s eight regions in England and Wales, where they will coordinate existing front-line pollution control officers to tackle unpleasant smells.

Under the scheme, pollution control officers are being sent on courses where their noses are “calibrated” by experts, a process which involves testing their responses to a range of odours. Officers deemed to have a very keen sense of smell will be rejected, as will those whose sense of smell is too dull.

Only those with an average sensitivity to smell are being accepted to carry out odour work in “stench squads”.

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