200,000 face water scare

More than 200,000 people in Southampton and surrounding areas were told to drink only boiled tap water after a parasite was detected in water from the Testwood treatment works. Large areas of the city, its western outskirts and the Isle of Wight were affected.

Southern Water warned that water for drinking, brushing teeth and preparing uncooked food should be boiled, saying it was 'purely a precautionary measure'. Loudspeaker vans toured the streets to alert residents. The parasite, found in the stomachs of cattle and sheep, is thought to have been washed into rivers by recent heavy rains.