During its heyday, the pork belly pit drew speculators from as far away as Saudi Arabia.

Companies close to the Gafoor Poultry Products site claim they are still plagued by foul smells from the slaughterhouse, which was given a £23,000 fine following a string of complaints last year.

But bosses at the £4m factory, on Fletcher Road, Deepdale, insist there is no evidence the smells are coming from their factory.

Environmental health enforcement officers from Preston Council confirmed they have investigated complaints about the site in the last year.

Owner Scott Felton, of Felton's Army Surplus on nearby Lincoln Street, said: "The council do not seem to be bothered, we have had the environmental health out countless times in the last 12 months and they have done nothing.

"It is the smell of chicken offal, and there is only one chicken factory around here, so it does not take Einstein to know who it is.