Tap water warning in Uist and Benbecula lifted after fuel leak

Water restrictions for people in parts of the Western Isles have been fully lifted four days after the supply was contaminated by a fuel leak.

Three schools in Benbecula and South Uist had to be closed and local health services were disrupted.

Scottish Water said about 1,000 properties were affected, with their water having an oily smell and taste.

But on Saturday the utilities company confirmed tap water had returned to "its normal high standard".

The move followed analysis of samples after the continued flushing of water mains and cleaning of drinking water storage tanks.

The source of the problem was traced to a fuel leak from a generator that provides a back-up power supply for a pumping station at Loch Eilean Iain.

Scottish Water said its teams worked round-the-clock since Wednesday and distributed 3,700 doorstep deliveries of bottled water.

Kevin Roy, the company's customer service general manager, said: "We are very pleased to have been able to lift the notice in Benbecula today, after having done likewise in the affected parts of South Uist on Friday.

"We recognise that these significant and disruptive restrictions were in place for three days in the north of South Uist and for four days in Benbecula and that customers were anxious to know when they would be lifted.

"Restoring supplies safely in these circumstances unfortunately takes time and progress could only be confirmed via successive sets of sample results that were confirmed to meet all of the strict quality standards that apply."

Mr Roy apologised for the inconvenience and assured customers teams had worked as quickly as possible to resolve the issue.