Mains water restored in homes after almost a week

Jin Zhang said it was "really nice" to get safe drinking water back

Drinking water has been restored at a housing development near Cambridge after concerns about contamination left some residents without drinking water for nearly a week.

About 320 homes at the Marleigh development had to rely on bottled water handed out by water company Independent Water Networks (IWN) from Thursday.

Residents received leaflets from the firm which has now informed them mains water is now safe to drink again.

A IWN spokesperson said: "We are very pleased to confirm that the precautionary ‘Do Not Drink’ notice is no longer necessary and you are now able to use your water safely."

Residents were previously told they should not use their mains supply for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, pets or livestock, bathing/showering and washing, but they could use it for flushing toilets.

IWN told the BBC that it was still unable to confirm what the contaminant was.

The leaflet to residents said: "Our sample results have confirmed that your water meets all the necessary standards set out in UK legislation and is safe to drink and use normally.

"The UK Health Security Agency has been consulted and they confirm and agree with this."

Bottled water was being handed out to the residents affected

Jin Zhang, one of the affected residents, said: "It is nice, now we can wash our hands again.

"We could not take a shower for a few days, but now finally we can do that again."