THE mystery of the great stench is one step closer to being solved – although several suggestions about the cause are still circling.

Dartford Council’s environmental health team say this morning they believe the stink is a result of muck-spreading on farmer’s fields in the Darenth area.

The smell has been reported to have spread across the News Shopper patch as far as Sidcup, Crayford, Bexleyheath and Belvedere.

But since appealing to readers this morning for help identifying the source of the smell, News Shopper has received more calls and emails.

One reader has suggested the smell originates from farming in northern Holland.

He said the smell “glides majestically down the Thames estuary” before reaching the Bexley and north Kent areas.

A further suggestion was that the Crossness sewage station in Thamesmead is to blame.

Let us know below if the air outside your home is blue so we can see exactly where the smell has drifted.

And do you think farmers are to blame for the smell? Get in touch.