A COMPENSATION scheme for South West Water customers whose supplies were poisoned has been described as “pathetic tokenism” by West Somerset’s MP.

Ian Liddell-Grainger says the £115 payments, increased from an initial £15, would do nothing to restore consumers’ confidence in the company - and in any case would have to be repaid through their own water bills.

The company announced the payments after supplying customers in the Brixham area with water contaminated with cryptosporidium, apparently after animal waste entered the system through a faulty valve.

Dozens of people become violently ill with sickness and diarrhoea and more than 16,000 households have now been advised to boil water before using it, although initially the company assured consumers the water was safe to drink.

Mr Liddell-Grainger, whose Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency includes SWW’s Wimbleball reservoir, said the compensation was pointless.

“It is a meaningless gesture,” he said. “It’s not as though managers and directors were shelling out the money personally. It’s coming from the company funds and the only people who will be offsetting the expense will be the customers themselves.”

Meanwhile he has described a Liberal Democrat attempt to introduce higher fines for polluting water companies as ‘an expensive waste of ink’.

The amendment was introduced in the Commons on Wednesday but was defeated by the Conservatives with Labour MPs abstaining.

South West Water issued a boil water notice to around 16,000 households and businesses in the area, advising them not to use their tap water for drinking or washing without boiling and cooling it first. 

As part of the boil water notice, customers were told they would be given £15 compensation under South West Water’s Customer Promise.

South West Water has confirmed it will now increase the compensation by £100 to say sorry for the stress and worry the situation has caused.

This will automatically be paid to customers and the company will continue to keep the level of compensation under review.

South West Water is also setting up a dedicated phoneline to talk to local businesses and water retailers about the impact this may have had on them and to fast-track any compensation due.

Laura Flowerdew, South West Water’s chief customer and digital officer, said: “We sincerely apologise for the impact this is having on our customers in the Brixham and Alston areas.

“Protecting the health of our customers and providing them with a clean, fresh drinking water supply is our number one priority and we will continue to work around the clock to make sure that happens as soon as possible.”

South West Water is working closely with the UK Health Security Agency and other public health partners to urgently investigate how cryptosporidium is getting into its network so it can be fixed and the drinking supply returned to the high quality standards expected by its customers as quickly as possible.    

If any customers are unsure whether they are in the affected areas, they can check on South West Water’s postcode tracker at https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/household/help-support/in-your-area/service-updates.