Devon: ‘Faulty valve’ blamed for Brixham water parasite outbreak

A government spokeswoman said: “The prime minister understands the stress and worry this has caused residents.

“Any water company that’s found to be in breach of rules on drinking water should expect to face the appropriate enforcement action up to and including criminal prosecution.”

Anthony Mangnall, Conservative MP for Totnes and South Devon, said he was “very concerned” with SWW’s response to the outbreak.

He said: “They have been slow to act and communication with customers has been very poor.

“This has certainly undermined trust in our water network and I will certainly keep working with colleagues at Defra to ensure SWW are held to account over this issue.”

Residents in Alston and the Hillhead area of Brixham have been asked to continue boiling their water for at least another week to prevent potential infection

SWW said investigations were continuing alongside testing of the water network and that it had distributed 129,000 two litre bottles of water

NHS Torbay asked those with diarrhoea or vomiting symptoms to “stay at home”.

“Anyone with diarrhoeal illness should drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and if they have severe symptoms like bloody diarrhoea, or you are not getting better after seven days, please contact NHS 111 or your GP.”