A livestock carrier has reportedly been turned away from a Canary Islands port due to its unpleasant smell.

The DA website said the 8,400-dwt Polaris-2 (built 1986) was banned from Santa Cruz on Tenerife this week.

The "nauseating" odour from the so-called "smelly ship" affected thousands of residents, port sources told the website.

It claimed protests had already taken place against the ship in the same region in 2012, 2013 and 2014.