It seemed the worst fears of Rutherford residents had come true when the air was filled again with the familiar odour of burnt rubber.

It was odious enough make ­several people feel ill.

And it sparked a call by Steve Jordan, a member of the former Rutherford Air Quality Liaison Committee, for the Environment Protection Authority to do something about it.

The smell, which affected dozens of residents on Monday afternoon, came just a few days after it was triumphantly announced to have vanished.

“It is definitely the same smell as it has always been – a burning rubber, petrochemical smell,” Brigantine Street couple Bryan and Anne Dimmock said.

“We first noticed it slightly, but then it was back in force as bad, maybe stronger than I have ever smelled it,” Mr Dimmock said.

“It is horrible. It is a concern for anyone elderly or with children or with respiratory issues themselves.”

Ms Dimmock said they used to smell it around tea time when it would waft up the hill.

“But now it is hitting us in broad daylight,” she said.

Mr Jordan called for the EPA to be more effective.

“All the work done over the last three years will be a waste,” he said. “I can only guess what residents are thinking. 

“Possibly that all this investigation has been a waste of time and money.

“The EPA must do its job.”

A spokesman for the EPA said yesterday they had received one report on December 7 of a strong, turpentine odour in Rutherford industrial estate.

A report from an Aberglasslyn resident the next day of a “rotten-egg gas” odour was being investigated.

“However, given the prevailing wind direction at the time, it was possible that hydrogen sulphide odours were being given off from rotting vegetation and stagnant pools of water following recent heavy rains and warm weather,” he said.

Anyone reporting odours should ring the EPA environment line on 131 555.