A water company has reprimanded contractors who left a container full of human waste in a car park.

Sludge from a sewage treatment works was left in a parking area in Dolphin Road, Shoreham, for several hours, covered only by a canvas lid.

The skip was taken to the car park by Southern Water contractors. It is believed they left it there while the lorry, which had been carrying it, was driven to a vehicle service centre.

Residents and factory workers complained the smell was overwhelming and forced them to stay indoors with the windows shut.

One worker, who did not want to be named, said: "It is an unbelievable stench, absolutely disgusting. You could not get close to it because it turned your stomach."

"A guy from Southern Water come down to see it and told us it should not have been there. I think it was a mistake."

A Southern Water spokesman said the slurry had come from a sewage treatment works in Worthing and was destined to be turned into fertiliser.

Southern Water bosses blamed the mistake on transport contractor CSG.

A spokesman said: "CSG do a lot of transport for us and it was their lorry and their skip, though they were working for us at the time.

"They acted against Southern Water instructions and we are taking it very seriously. We have complained to the contractors about it and will take any other action necessary to make sure it does not happen again."

A spokesman for Southampton-based CSG said: "We are investigating this matter and our managing director has been informed."