25 YEARS AGO: Firm accused of causing a pong.

The mystery 'Falmouth Pong' which hung over the town on Friday, and even drifted down as far as Budock and Mabe, is likely to lead to formal action against a local company.

The gassy stink, which one Budock resident described as 'absolutely honking', had local noses twitching all day in the heat.

Many assumed British Gas to be the culprits and the firm was bombarded with 140 calls from irate residents. Penryn Police were also contacted and rumours circulated that a gas tanker had overturned in the Carrick Roads.

Falmouth fire brigade inspected the dock's area and British Gas engineers spent all Friday and much of Saturday looking for leaks but came up with no answer to the mystery.

But Nick Hibbett, senior environment officer for Carrick Council said he believed Falmouth Oil Service were the source of the stink.

"We are satisfied the smell was coming from them. I'm also satisfied that a statutory nuisance occurred after we did a very detailed investigation."

But Falmouth Oil Services issued a statement denying any responsibility for the pong. Any odours it produced were very localised and smelled of oil not gas. Special odour control equipment had also been installed for some time.

Newsagent to close

Falmouth is to lose its Fourbuoys newsagent's shop on Monday and the firm have no intention of opening anywhere else in the town.

Five counter jobs and 11 newspaper rounds will go when the Berkley Vale premises close. The shop has been a newsagents for many years, certainly since the 1950s, and to many locals it remains 'Dancy's' even though the popular Mr Dancy gave up the business was owned by John Garwood who now owns the Arwenack Street post office.

Fine weather and a feast of fun and England V Scotland!

A beautiful day greeted the Pandora Inn Lifeboat Day on Saturday drawing in vast crowds to the various stalls and activities which included an orchestra cream teas and canoeing.

Justin Leight from Radio Cornwall headed the special auction and Helen Masters of the Wycliffe series drew the raffle.

Despite all the attractions going ahead the only minor drawback to the day was the rough sea conditions which deterred many from travelling on the boats present.

Attendance was high throughout the day although it dropped slightly in the afternoon due to the football match between England and Scotland.