A PUNGENT sewage smell has taken over a popular supermarket chain yet again.

Shoppers at the Tesco Superstore on Mill Wood Drive, Warndon Villages, have been deterred from shopping there amid a foul smell of sewage has taken over the premises.

One shopper, Peter Vanderweele, said the store could not continue to let the smell waft through its premises after the issue had been raised twice before.

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Mr Vanderweele, of Warndon Villages, said the smell returned last Wednesday, but instead of staying by the entrance as it has previously, it is now apparent throughout the entire store.

In response, Tesco said a maintenance team is working to solve the issue and stressed the smell poses no health risk.

"It puts you off - full stop," Mr Vanderweele said.

"You would not go in a pub with that smell, but it appears to be worse as they are selling food, not just food in tins and jars but fresh food.

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"When it happened before, I stopped going there, and it took years for me to go back.

"They don't even have something on the door which says it smells horrible."

Mr Vanderweele said the smell in the store is pungent. He described as not quite like a sewage farm but similar to the fertilisers farmers spray on their fields.

"It hangs over all the store," he added.

"I just thought it could not go on like this."

Dean Bowkett had previously raised issues with a foul smell plaguing shoppers at the supermarket in 2017 and then re-raised the case this March.

In 2017, a spokesperson for Tesco confirmed that the issue was caused by underfloor piping and that, despite the foul smell, the supermarket had no hygiene concerns around food or customer health.

Tesco also has a supermarket in St Peter's, and there are several other Tesco Express stores also found throughout the city.