Village water supply contaminated

Residents are boiling water before drinking, cooking, or brushing teeth

More than 70 households in a Kent village have been told to boil their water to kill bacteria, after experts discovered the supply was contaminated.

Sevenoaks Council warned people in Eynsford about the contamination after it carried out routine tests on the supply from Lullingstone Water Company.

The council and Health Protection Agency are working with the firm to establish the source of the problem.

The firm declined to comment further. There have been no reports of illness.

A council statement said: "As part of Sevenoaks District Council's routine sampling of the water supply, some naturally occurring bacteria was found to have contaminated a private water supply in the Lullingstone area."

Private company

Letters were hand-delivered to the 76 homes and three businesses supplied by Lullingstone Water, on 2 November, the day the council became aware of the bacterial contamination, it added.

People have been advised to boil water before drinking, cooking, or brushing teeth.

The council said it would inform affected customers as soon as the water company had resolved the problem.

The Consumer Council for Water said the water firm was a private company that extracted water from the River Darent under license from the Environment Agency and sold it on to customers.

A statement said: "Because they are private and not one of statutory water companies, they are not regulated by Ofwat and we can't comment on behalf of their consumers."

The council carries out routine testing of the supply about six times a year.