Severn Trent Water to compensate after chlorine scare

Severn Trent Water handed out bottled water to affected customers in Derbyshire and Leicestershire

Severn Trent Water said it will compensate thousands of people who could not use their water because of an abnormally high level of chlorine.

The company had warned customers in Derbyshire and Leicestershire on Friday after finding high levels of the chemical at Castle Donington reservoir.

The 3,700 households, which were told not to drink, prepare food or bathe in the water, will get £50 each.

The supply had returned by Sunday despite discolouration in some cases.

Updates on this story and more from Derbyshire

'Solid with traffic'

Leah Fry who is head of customer experience at Severn Trent, said: "We do have set standards that we have to adhere to and we have compensation that we pay out according to that.

"It's about £50 per household, then business customers, it's £100, obviously there might be some individual cases that we might need to look at."

The BBC understands the level of chlorine found in the supply at Castle Donington was higher than that of a swimming pool.

Drinking water is usually between 0.2mg and 0.6mg per litre, while a pool can be about 3mg per litre.

Severn Trent said the highest levels of chlorine would not have necessarily reached homes and businesses and the warning had been a precautionary measure.

The businesses forced to close should get compensation of about £100

The company handed out free bottles of water to affected customers at Sainsbury's in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, and Tesco in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire.

Carl Barratt, from Woodville, said the whole of Swadlincote was "solid with traffic and there was no water on the shelves".

When the supply returned customers were told to run taps at full flow for five minutes before using.

Severn Trent warned until the network got back to normal there could be interruptions or discolorations in the supply.

An investigation has begun into what caused the problem.