Visitors to Sandbanks Beach have reported a mysterious 'sewage' like smell that has been likened to 'rotten eggs'.

A strong pong has been noted by residents and visitors to Sandbanks, who say it smells like a 'stink bomb' and have complained it could deter people from the area. 

The mystery odour is reportedly strongest from Sandbanks Hotel to the nearby zebra crossing.

"A Parkstone resident who often walks her dog along the front said although the stench can be noticed all year round, it has become stronger in the past fortnight.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, said: "I don't understand how residents in the flats above Tesco Express can sit on their balcony and stand the smell unless they've gone nose blind. 

"If it's seaweed and plankton they can't do anything about it, but I honestly thought it was sewage. I would never stop in that area and it would put me off going into the nearby Tesco Express."

Several residents said the smell gets worse in the heat and that it always appears around this time of year. 

Another suggested it is made worse by fertilisers farmers put on the land which trickle down rivers and mix with the seaweed, giving it a sulfuric smell. 

A spokesperson for the Sandbanks Hotel said: "The sun beats down on the seaweed and it begins to rot which gives it the sulphuric dioxide smell. 

"I think we've become quite accustomed to it. Some days it's bad, some days it isn't, but it has got progressively worse in the last five years."

The hotel insisted the reeking smell it is not sewage. It wrote on TripAdvisor that the smell is a 'natural phenomenon' and that it is a very difficult issue to fix. 

Some have called for a solution and for the seaweed to be cleared away on a regular basis.

One woman said: "When the tide is out the smell is really nasty, it still smells when the tide is in but I haven't found any dead bodies."