{"id":805770,"date":"2026-10-17T17:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/805770\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T17:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:34:09","slug":"stinky-business-south-london-bike-shop-hit-by-unbearable-stench-from-thames-water-sewer-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/805770\/","title":{"rendered":"Stinky business: south London bike shop hit by \u2018unbearable\u2019 stench from Thames Water sewer | London"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leafy south London<\/a> neighbourhood of Herne Hill is a haven for cyclists who can often be seen lapping the local parks and refuelling at the many cafes that line the suburban streets. But there is something foul in the air of this corner of the capital \u2013 and for once it\u2019s not the traffic fumes hitting bicycle riders.<\/p>\n

A toxic stench thought to be caused by untreated sewage stuck in Thames Water<\/a> drains has been emanating from the subterranean depths for months, most likely caused by the summer\u2019s lack of rain.<\/p>\n

The stink is so acrid that the Bicyclenation shop has had to bar some customers and its mechanics have been forced to work on the pavement outside.<\/p>\n

The owner of the shop, Tamas Polocz, has repeatedly complained to Thames Water since the smell first hit the shop in June and caused his colleague Nick to vomit.<\/p>\n

Last week the troubled water company told Polocz it accepted that a mains sewer directly beneath the shop was to blame, but it has yet to offer him and his team of 11 any date for resolving the problem.<\/p>\n

When the smell hits, the mechanics at Bicyclenation are forced to evacuate and work outside the shop. Photograph: Lily Renshaw\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Polocz and his colleagues have been left fearing for their physical and mental health after repeated exposure to the gassy stench. And the outlook for the business is bleak.<\/p>\n

The odour comes in putrid wafts that occur at least five times a day, according to a \u201csmell chart\u201d used to log the time and duration of each incident with a description. The words used include \u201ccabbage\u201d, \u201cteargas\u201d, \u201conions\u201d, \u201cspicy BBQ\u201d and repeated references to \u201cshit\u201d.<\/p>\n

When the Guardian first arrived at the shop there was a whiff of rotten eggs but not enough to stop mechanics working inside and customers milling about. But within minutes we were overpowered by a repulsive gas that hit the back of the throat and left us scurrying outside, gagging for air.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unbearable,\u201d said Polocz. \u201cYou can\u2019t be in the shop when it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt has a really strong physical presence. This is a smell you take home with you. It\u2019s in your hair, on your skin, sometimes it feels it\u2019s inside your skin. When you go home and cough, you taste it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You can\u2019t be in the shop when it comes,\u2019 Tamas Polocz, the owner, said of the smell. Photograph: Lily Renshaw\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The ordeal comes after record-breaking temperatures and drought prompted calls for a radical overhaul of an outdated sewage system<\/a>, just as the Great Stink ushered in new sanitation in the Victorian era.<\/p>\n

Thames Water initially suggested the Herne Hill smell was due to a gas leak. But extensive tests by the local gas supplier ruled that out.<\/p>\n

Polocz said he had been battling the company every week. \u201cThames Water have always tried to push me away, or blame others. When they finally accepted liability last week I just broke down. But we still don\u2019t have a date for fixing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exact cause of the stench remains unknown, but a Thames Water engineer told Polocz it was likely to be linked to the lack of rain. The engineer also told him that a cast-iron ventilation pipe that had previously drawn odours away from the shop had not been replaced.<\/p>\n

Experts warn that during dry periods, untreated sewage builds up in pipes with no rainwater to flush it out. Microbial activity in the sewage causes foul-smelling gas to be emitted in wafts<\/a>, in a similar process to the one that causes flatulence in human digestion.<\/p>\n

Prof Barbara Evans, the chair of public health engineering at Leeds University, said: \u201cIt sounds like methane and it\u2019s probably unsafe working conditions. Biological processes are cyclical just like in your digestive system, which is why sewer smells come in wafts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shop\u2019s mechanics log the instances of the odour on a \u2018smell chart\u2019. Photograph: Lily Renshaw\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

When Polocz woke up to rainfall, he was hopeful it would flush away the stench. \u201cI looked out through the window at home and thought, oh good, but it didn\u2019t make any difference. Even after the rain there was still the smell. Maybe the rain will eventually clear it, but we don\u2019t know. Something is happening down there that is pushing the smell up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans said: \u201cThe first flushes of rain will probably make things smell worse because it just stirs things up. It needs a lot of rain to clear. There might be some blockage there but it\u2019s impossible to know without a proper inspection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harriet Talbot, a board member of Bicyclenation, said: \u201cYou can\u2019t run a business relying on the weather.\u201d She helped set up a webpage<\/a> asking for customers to sign up for a collect and repair service to help the shop survive.<\/p>\n

Polocz said the shop was currently unsustainable because staff had to evacuate so frequently. \u201cWe have to do half a day in the shop and half outside on the pavement. But now the cold weather is coming, we can\u2019t keep doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the stress from the stink is taking its toll. Polocz said: \u201cI\u2019m 49, but today I feel 62-ish. We have guys calling in sick. It affects you both physically and mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polocz said he laid in bed at night worrying how he would be able to keep the shop going. \u201cThe last thought of the day and the first thought of the day are now both the same,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I wake up at night thinking: what are we going to do about it? I try to listen to a podcast, but I still keep thinking about the smell. Somehow I\u2019m going to get through this and change back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It affects you both physically and mentally,\u2019 said Tamas Polocz. Photograph: Lily Renshaw\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Polocz\u2019s plight is likely to add to calls for an overhaul of London\u2019s Victorian sewage system. Evans said: \u201cThis underlines the need for a rethink of our sewers. The system was designed for a climate that we just don\u2019t currently have any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guardian asked Thames Water when the problem would be fixed, why it had taken so long to resolve, and whether the company would apologise to Polocz.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson replied: \u201cOur teams are investigating the source of an odour reported at a bike shop. Initial investigations have confirmed there are no blockages in the sewers surrounding the property. Odour monitors are to be installed, which will enable engineers to detect, measure and track odorous gases in real time and help determine the exact cause.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leafy south London neighbourhood of Herne Hill is a haven for cyclists who can often be seen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-805770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}