Urgent warning issued to people that experience dangerous 'rotten egg' smell in their house

Having any unpleasant smell in your home isn't great, but you really need to be wary if it whiffs of rotten eggs.

The dreaded stench is actually a huge warning sign that something sinister could be going on inside your property which requires urgent action.

They don't say 'the last one there smells like a rotten egg' for nothing.

If you haven't actually got a putrid egg lurking in the six pack you grabbed from the supermarket, the smell plaguing your home could actually be coming from a dangerous gas leak or some dodgy drain pipes.

If it's the first option, you need to act fast.

Natural gas is odourless in its native state, so another chemical called mercaptan - a harmless but pungent gas that honks of rotten eggs - is added to it so that a leak is easier to detect.

So, if this smell suddenly starts to invade your home in the UK, you should call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999 or via textphone on 0800 371 787 to report your suspicions.

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British Sign Language users can use SignLive to contact the National Gas Emergency Service free of charge.

And it goes without saying, but obviously don't smoke, flick any switches or use matches and lighters as the gas is highly flammable and one little spark could easily ignite it.

Other signs of a gas leak include a hissing or blowing sound from near a gas line or gas appliances, swirling dirt outside when there is no wind, bubbles in standing water and dead or discoloured vegetation.

But if you've ruled out this worst case scenario and are still stuck with the relentless smell of rotten eggs, you might want to have a look at your pipe work.

A leak of sewer gas - which is brimming with all sorts of toxic stuff like hydrogen sulfide and methane - could be to blame, especially if the source of the smell is coming from a rarely used bathroom.

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Basically, there is a U-shaped pipe sitting under our sinks and bathtubs which usually has a small amount of water sitting in it, and this stops any sewer gas from getting inside and leaking into your home.

But if you haven't turned the taps on in a while, it is probably dried up, which opens the floodgates for the rotten egg odour to creep up your drain.

To fix it, you need to start by doing your best sniffer dog impression and tracking down where the smell is coming from.

You can then simply run the tap for a short while to rehydrate the pipes and get some water trapped back in them to stop the sewer gas from getting right up your nose.

But if the problem persists, call a plumber as it might be the sign of a more complex issue going on in your pipe work.