foul-smelling fumes from the nearby Pembroke Canal.

And one employee at furniture store Rooms to Go said the smell was so bad that at least two people had lost their lunch.

Jennifer Dwinnell, who works at the furniture store, said: "The fumes are unbelievable -- it's like being in a garage surrounded by really heavy fumes from trucks.

"And when the wind comes around, you really feel very sick. We can hardly breathe. Everybody around here is affected.

"It seems to come in waves -- it hits about every ten minutes. I've been sick and so has someone else here.'' Ms Dwinnell said she had contacted everyone from Police to the health department to complain about the problem -- but claimed no-one appeared to be taking it seriously.

She speculated that someone had dumped oil in the water further up the waterway in the hope that it would disperse into the sea.

But she explained there is a grille in the water near Mills Creek Road and anything dumped in the water backed up there.

And she warned if the problem was not tackled, a stray cigarette end or match could set the surface of the creek on fire.

But Chief Environmental Health Officer Estlyn Harvey said her office had responded to the fumes furore as fast as possible.

She added: "We alerted the Fire Service and the water authority and a member of our staff has gone down there as well.

"We made sure the right people were aware of the problem immediately.'' She added: "Our inspector was right on top of it and called the lady who called us right back to tell her what was happening.'' Ms Harvey said the cause of the problem had yet to be discovered -- but said it had all the hallmarks of an oil leak.

She added: "They said it was a horrible smell, but we don't yet know what it might be.

"There is a lot of industry up there and someone may have dumped something.'' Last night samples were collected from the canal for examination -- but is suspected the contamination is diesel oil.

Large blotting paper-type material has been placed on the surface to soak up the oil and the water will be chemically treated to break up the oil.

A Police spokesman confirmed yesterday that the force had been involved and the Marine Section attended.

He added: "They are trained to deal with oil pollution -- they are part of the team for dealing with that sort of thing.''