Tesco explain reason for 'unpleasant pong' in Milton Keynes store and apologise to customers

And they have assured people that the problem, which stemmed from the store's drains, has now been fixed.

The smell, described as a cross between rotten vegetables and raw sewage, was so strong that it made some shoppers gag and have to leave the store.

One customer kicked up a stink on Facebook about her experience and it lead to more than 100 replies from people complaining about the same thing.

The original post said: "Went to do some shopping in Tesco this afternoon, the stench that was permeating the whole store was really unbelievable.

"I mentioned it to a couple of staff but they sort of ignored me. I then had a word with the security chap who told me there was someone working on it outside, needless to say no chap was seen outside working.

"The smell was that overpowering I had to leave my husband in there to finish the shopping as it made me feel really nauseous."

Another poster wrote: "It’s always been like it, for years, can’t understand why nothing has been done about it to date."

Others speculated that the problem was due to Wolverton's drainage system.

One wrote: "It's the Victorian drains. When something is washed down them it kicks up the smell. Been lots of attempts to stop it to no avail. When you have been in there a while you get used to it."

A Tesco spokesperson told the Citizen this week: “We apologise to customers who experienced the unpleasant smell in our store last week.

"As soon as we noticed the problem, we quickly arranged for the store’s drains to be cleaned by our maintenance team which has resolved the issue.”