North Yorkshire 'boil tap water' alert after bacteria discovered
People in parts of North Yorkshire have been told to boil their tap water after tests showed it contained high levels of a type of bacteria.Yorkshire Water said it had issued a "boil order" for its customers in High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale following the discovery.Routine testing of the water supply there revealed it did not meet "our usual standards" and people affected should boil tap water "until further notice", a spokesperson for the firm said.A shopkeeper in Bentham told the BBC that since the order had been issued, she had "sold out of bottled water" on Sunday, while a member of staff at a hotel there said people in the area were "panic buying" bottles of water.
The Yorkshire Water spokesperson said the firm was "really sorry" about the results of its tests and was "working hard to resolve this issue".In a statement, Yorkshire Water said "higher than usual levels of the coliform bacteria" had been discovered during routine tests of tap water in the area.The firm's spokesperson said boiling water would offer "sufficient protection", adding that they appreciated having to do so "can be inconvenient".Yorkshire Water has been asked by the BBC to confirm how many properties in the area were affected by the "boil order" in total.
The manager of a shop in Bentham, who did not want to be named, said: "We sold out of bottled water yesterday."We sold about 88 individual bottles and 19 six-packs, but we've restocked today."Meanwhile, a staff member at a hotel in Bentham, who also did not want to be named, told the BBC: "People are panic buying. We've been told to boil all our drinking water. I think it's because we've had so little rain lately."Mohamed Ezzat, owner of G & Mo's Cafe in Bentham, said: "To serve customers who want drinking water, we are having to boil water then keep it cool in the fridge."Bryan Jeffs, owner of The Black Pig Cafe, said he had stopped serving tap water altogether in favour of bottled water.Mr Jeffs said people in the area had been notified about the issue through social media, texts on their phones and leaflets, but added that the information provided by Yorkshire Water "didn't really explain what the issue was".A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said bottled water had been delivered to any customer on its priority services register.Any property affected by the issue "has had a hand-delivered notice of the boil order", they said.Bottled water stations had been set up at the Lair Gill Car Park on Butts Lane in High Bentham, the playing field on Wenning Ave in High Bentham, and at the Recreation Ground in Burton In Lonsdale, the spokesperson added.
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'New research has shown that it's not just the nutrients themselves that affect health – it's how they're packaged within a food, something called the food matrix,' says Dr Leeming. She points to a study comparing the matched nutrients in cheese and butter, which found that cheese lowered levels of 'bad' LDL cholesterol – while butter did not. 'It suggests the food matrix plays a role in how our bodies respond,' she says. A major study published earlier this year, involving more than 200,000 people followed over 30 years, found that those who consumed more plant-based oils – particularly olive, rapeseed and soya – had a 17 per cent lower risk of death than those who regularly ate butter. 'We don't need to be frightened of butter,' says Southern. 'Although plant-based spreads are now largely free from unhealthy trans fats, I'd still choose butter for toast or baking. But for cooking, a good quality oil is much better for us.'
