Prime Minister David Cameron has been urged to intervene in the drinking water crisis in parts of Lancashire.
With the cryptosporidium warning now into its 20th day – and still no sign of the boil water alert being lifted – an online petition has been launched to get 10 Downing Street to take action.
Preston resident John Gibson has called on the PM to set up a parliamentary inquiry into the contamination of supplies to large areas of the county “and why there seems to be no contingency plans to deal with such a situation.”
The petition on change.org is aiming to gather enough support to spark Whitehall interest in a problem which is happening 200 miles north of London.
“Over 300,000 households in Lancashire have been having to boil all water used for drinking, food preparation and brushing of teeth as the parasite cryptosporidium has been found in the local water supply,” says the petition.
“This situation, which doubtless would have been the lead story on almost every national news bulletin had it occurred in the south-east, shows no immediate signs of improvement and, as well as the general inconvenience of having to boil water, several restaurants and businesses have been forced to close.”
For all our previous coverage on the water contamination situation in Lancashire visit the links below:
Parasite found in water supply
WATER SCARE: What is Cryptosporidium?
Shelves cleared amid water scare
Map issued showing affected areas
Health warning continues after bug is found in water supply
BREAKING: Water warning to last into next week
WATER CHAOS: Compensation claims spark debate
WATER CHAOS: Compensation could be given to residents
Battle for safe water rages as investigations continue
WATER LATEST: Company pledges to pay compensation ‘to all.’
WATER LATEST: Criminal investigation into contamination
UV ray equipment brought in to kill off water bug
WATER LATEST: Source of crypto contamination found
United Utilities faces £15m compensation bill over water scare