Restaurant staff have turned to scented candles in a desperate attempt to mask a foul stench reminiscent of "dirty nappies" in Bluewater Shopping Centre.

Visitors have been left feeling nauseous as they walk past the eating places in Lower Thames Walk due to a leaking water pipe seeping into surrounding porous stone.

Lebanese chain restaurant Comptoir Libanais is believed to have suffered a substantial drop in customer footfall, and has seen regular patrons turn away unable to cope with the stench, according to a restaurant source.

The source added that they are receiving regular complaints from customers, and that scented candles provided by Bluewater are doing nothing to eliminate the pong.

Bluewater has apologised for the stink, which first emerged in June, and expects to clear the air by early September at the latest.

A Bluewater spokesperson said: "We are aware that there was a water pipe leak under the Thames Walk flooring at Bluewater, and immediately investigated its cause.

"We have worked hard to fix the problem as quickly as possible and while the issue has been rectified an area of the flooring has had to be replaced to complete the job, this work is now almost complete."

It is understood that Bluewater is not aware of any significant difference in the number of people visiting the mall.

The severity of the stink varies depending on the weather, with it becoming more pungent as the temperature increases.

Laura Hutchinson, from Chatham, visited the complex on Thursday for a meal but lost her appetite after whiffing the vile pong.

She said: "It smelt like dirty nappies. It made me feel physically sick.

"It smelt like dirty nappies. It made me feel physically sick" - Laura Hutchinson, shopper

"I would never eat in the restaurants there now because of the smell. It was gross and really put me off my food.

"It makes me question why something hasn't been done about it before now. It has been like this for weeks and all they seem to have done is plug a diffuser in. That's not going to do anything - it's just masking the scent."

Simon Hawkins got in touch via Facebook to complain about the funky smell. He said: "I was at Bluewater on Wednesday when we walked past the foul smell we noticed that nearby eateries were burning Yankee Candles, probably to try and mask the horrible smell.

"But even the Yankee Candles were no match for the smell. However, they really do need to get it sorted as I for one will be avoiding the smelly area."

The smell comes after Shepherd Neame admitted it was responsible for a similar pong in Faversham.