UNPLEASANT smells from a pig farm have lead to renewed calls for a farmer to clean up his act.

Nicholas Compton, of Fairfield Piggeries, Bradford Leigh, has already been served with an odour abatement notice ordering him to do something about the smell but residents are still complaining.

Bradford town councillors have now written to West Wiltshire District Council asking for an injunction to be brought against him.

Town councillor Philip Sutton said: "The important issue is to ensure there are no more smells not just that fines are imposed for breaches of council abatement orders.

"A breach of a court order is a serious matter.

"An injunction would enable the people of Bradford and surrounding villages to be more confident that they were free of this blight forever."

The legal implications of breaching an injunction are more serious than breaching an abatement order and could lead to imprisonment.

Mr Compton was fined £5,000 plus £3,600 costs when he pleaded guilty to breaching the odour abatement notice in September.

A spokesman for West Wiltshire District Council said: "We have received a letter from Bradford Town Council asking us to consider an injunction against Fairfield Piggeries.

"We successfully prosecuted the business in September for breaching an odour abatement notice, and no further legal action is planned at this time, although we are continuing to monitor the site."

Town councillors are now considering asking people living near the farm to keep a 'smell diary' which could back up their case for an injunction.

Mr Compton said any complaints about the smell from the farm were taken very seriously.

He said: "We have complied with all the regulations that have been imposed on us and spent another £200,000 on improvements.

"Keeping to the regulations is the driving force behind everything we do."

At the farm Mr Compton has a swill and rendering plant and keeps 600 pigs.

He plans to extend the business, possibly expanding the herd to 20,000 pigs.

He said: "Farming has now become a worldwide industry and I have to compete against big American plants.

"Any expansion we do will happen slowly and with the consent of the authorities."

The site at Bradford Leigh has been a piggery since it opened as part of the war effort to feed the local population.

Mr Compton said: "I have applied twice in recent years to build housing here and both times plans were rejected, so if the district council really wanted us to stop farming here they have had their chance.

"I was forced to stay farming pigs because I had no other option when the planning applications were turned down."