'Boil order' lifted after tap water bacteria alert

A "boil order" issued for parts of North Yorkshire after tap water was found to contain higher than usual levels of a type of bacteria has been lifted.

Yorkshire Water put the order in place earlier this week after coliform, a family of bacteria containing E. coli, was found in tap water in Bentham, High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale.

People living in the affected areas had been warned to boil their tap water "until further notice", but that order was lifted by Yorkshire Water on Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson said: "We can confirm we are now able to lift the boil water instruction at all affected properties in the area as the water is now back to our usual high standards."

"Customers can now use their tap water as normal," they added.

The lifting of the order came after staff at a home care service in Bentham and the people they looked after spoke of their concerns over the boil order.

Danielle Ward, care manager at Care Legacy, told the BBC that it had caused some difficulties, especially for people with dementia.

"It's a real problem as it's about getting them not to drink it, so we prepared signs that say, 'do not drink the water', but it's hard as they don't understand," she explained.

"The main issue is that when we tried to get water for patients, it was all taken, whether it was taken by vulnerable or non-vulnerable people, there was not a lot in the shops."

Meanwhile, Christine, who has multiple sclerosis and is cared for by Ms Ward, said she had been "quite worried" about the situation.

"I wasn't able to get any bottled water. It was all sold out and despite being told I would get some as I'm vulnerable, none arrived," she explained.

Earlier this week, residents in the affected areas shared their concerns over a lack of bottled water after shopkeepers in Bentham told the BBC they had sold out of them since the boil order had been issued.

Before the boil order was lifted, other businesses had also spoken of their concerns over the impact it could have if it went on for any length of time.

Richard Rucastle, who runs Rucastle Holiday Lets in Ingleton with his wife, told the BBC earlier this week they had not been accepting mid-week bookings in a bid to try and "slow things down".

Mr Rucastle said they had considered cancelling their next visitors, due to arrive on Friday, if there had not been further clarity on the issue from Yorkshire Water.

Meanwhile, Bryan Jeffs, the owner of The Black Pig Cafe, said on Monday that he had stopped serving tap water altogether in favour of bottled water while the boil order remained in place.

But speaking before the order was lifted, Gail Lister, from G & Mo's Cafe in Bentham, said she had taken a pragmatic approach to the issue.

"Ninety nine per cent of the time, you turn the tap on and the water's fine," she said.

"There are so many countries where you cannot drink the water - or countries that do not have clean water."

Confirming the end of the boil order, a Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "We'd like to apologise to everybody impacted.

"We thank them for their understanding and patience throughout."

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