Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said there will be “very, very hard questions” for South West Water over the outbreak of cases of cryptosporidium, a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite, confirmed in the Brixham area of Devon, writes PA.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to the University of Exeter, Ms Atkins said: “There will be very, very hard questions for South West Water to answer. At the moment I think we probably need to give them the space to conduct their investigation; we know that they have identified the source.

“The public will want to know how on earth that source happened, what was the chain of events that led to this, because of course we all understand the expectation that we all have when we turn our taps on is that (we get) clean drinking water and we want to be able to trust it.”

She added: “Outbreaks such as this are very, very unusual in our drinking water. The authorities are looking into this very carefully. People must please follow the advice for the time being and as the investigation proceeds, more answers will be obtained for the public.”