A "foul stench" has forced at least one villager to keep his doors and windows closed.

Pensioner Ray Sadler, 67, from Headcorn, said he noticed the appalling smell hanging over the western end of the village earlier this week.

Mr Sadler,who has complained to Maidstone council, blamed a farmer for failing to plough in slurry or inject it into the ground.

“One of our farmers has decided to spread a particularly obnoxious manure over fields adjacent to the village, without the least thought for the hundreds of people inconvenienced by it,” he said.

“We are forced to sit behind closed windows to avoid a foul stench.”

He added: “I don’t know where it’s coming from, but I phoned the council’s environmental health department and they had received other complaints,” he said.

Mr Sadler said there had been similar incidents in past.

“Is it not time that the authorities recognised that farming as practised today is an industry, and should be regulated accordingly, in particular with regard to the disposal of its waste?” he said

Mr Sadler claimed trailer-loads of stinking waste were carted through the village regularly, often uncovered.

He added: “A few years ago we had a plague of flies from this being spread untreated around the area.

“I know all about 'Growing food for Britain’, but surely there must be a better code of practice to deal with these problems? A stench-free zone of half a mile around housing would be a start.”

Parish council chairman Cllr Tim Thomson said he noticed the stench when he arrived at Headcorn railway station on Tuesday evening.

He said: “It was absolutely appalling at the station, but it’s part and parcel of living around here. We won’t get too concerned unless it’s still there in a few days time.”

A council spokeswoman confirmed its environmental health department was investigating and liaising with the Environment Agency.