Firms across the North of England will examine crypto incident

The ‘inquest’, by the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), comes just two weeks after supplier United Utilities was fined £300,000 in – less than £1 for each of the 320,000 customers affected by the scare.

The boil water alert lasted up to a month and blighted the lives of householders and businesses across the Fylde coast.

The CCW helped keep customers informed during the incident and pushed for them to get more compensation afterwards.

“The parasite can cause serious stomach sickness so swift action was needed to protect the 320,000 homes and businesses supplied by the works,” said a report by the CCW.

“The restrictions caused significant disruption for many customers and businesses.”

“Our negotiations with UU led it to offer a higher level of compensation for the inconvenience caused.

“The company also agreed to our call for it to consider additional compensation claims from customers who could show they had suffered even greater costs as a result of the incident.”

Chiefs from United Utilities, Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water and Hartlepool Water are meeting at Newcastle University. Members of the public will be allowed to ask questions and make comments.