They are demanding the Towong Council find the source of the sickly smell and fix the problem before the town is labelled “stinky town”.

Walwa General Store owner Joyce Hunt said she was fed up with the stench seeping from her shower and basin.

“I smell it in the shower and I smell it when I lean over to brush my teeth,” she said.

“Everybody has got this disgusting sewerage smell in their homes.

“It’s not pleasant — you get in the shower and you have that smell coming up your plug hole and it’s affecting everybody.”

The residents have circulated a petition to grab the council’s attention.

“Nearly 100 per cent of the whole town has signed it,” Ms Hunt said.

Towong mayor Mary Fraser said she sympathised with residents.

She did not want the town smelling like sewerage and felt strongly about fixing it.

Cr Fraser said the origin of the stench was a mystery, despite the council’s efforts to find it.

“Council staff have performed street walks and no smell has been identified yet,” she said.

Ms Hunt said the smell had been at its worst at Christmas time.

“People thought it was just their house until they talked to each other,” she said.

“It’s disgusting. It just comes and goes.”

Ms Hunt said the smell could damage the town’s reputation.

“We are trying to build this town up, not bloody have it known as stinky city,” she said.

“It’s only going to get worse and we will be tagged a smelly town.”

The Walwa Riverside Caravan Park manager Garry Webster said he had signed the petition after getting a whiff of the stink in heavy winds.

“You can smell it as you go towards town,” he said.

“I’ve heard several houses and businesses are affected,” he said.

“There’s a lot of criticism about it in town.”

“That septic smell is not always there but it is in certain streets, it’s obviously around.

“Where it is coming from nobody knows at the moment.”

North East Water is working with the council to find an answer to the problem.

Cr Fraser said the council was contacting people who had signed the petition to try to work out where the smell is coming from.

“The best thing for people who are conscious of it is to call the shire when the smell is there,” she said.

“It’s awful having that kind of smell around.”

Cr Fraser said the council would continue its investigations and council staff would set to walk the streets tonight when the temperature was high.

“Once we find the source we will do our best to rectify,” she said.