Brixham residents call on South West Water boss to resign over Devon parasite outbreak

• Brixham resident Michaela Lewis told ITV News she thinks the South West Water chief executive should resign following the parasite outbreak.

A mother from Brixham has told ITV News West Country she believes the boss of South West Water (SWW) should resign over the company's handling of the cryptosporidium outbreak.

Michaela Lewis' three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter are showing symptoms of the illness caused by the bacteria. She says she believes their sickness bugs are linked to the contamination.

Chief executive Susan Davy has previously apologised for the disruption, saying she was "truly sorry" for the spread of the parasite.

So far, there have been 57 confirmed cases of the illness caused by it with more than 100 others reporting symtpoms.

Around 17,000 households and businesses were told their tap water was not safe to drink.

Around 2,500 properties in the Hillhead area of the seaside town are still being advised to boil their water following the outbreak seven days ago.

Michaela told ITV News she believes chief executive Susan Davy should now step down from her role.

"They told us the water was safe, and they didn't have the evidence to back that up," she said.

"They said 'testing at our treatment facility said it was safe'. They didn't test our taps."

Ms Lewis has a background in environmental health and believes the spread could have been avoided.

"I'm very good at reading and understanding regulations, so I can see where they have gone horribly wrong and what should have been done to better protect the people of Brixham," she said.

"It was absolutely avoidable," she added.

Michaela's neighbour Tanya Matthews said: "It says an awful lot that (Susan Davy) won't speak to any residents or any media."

The water company has also increased how much shareholders have received this year, despite the criticism it has faced following the outbreak.

Meanwhile, SWW has announced it will offer £215 in compensation for those who have been impacted.

The town's MP, Anthony Mangnall MP has said Pennon, SWW's parent company, should suspend the dividend payments this year, or the company's CEO should resign.

Bosses at the water company say they are working "24 hours a day" to solve the issue.

David Harris, SWW's incident director, said: “Our teams on the ground continue to work as quickly as we can to resolve the situation in the Hillhead supply area, where we are still advising around 2,500 properties to boil their drinking water before consuming.

“We are urgently investigating the damaged air valve on private land which we believe to be the probable cause, and following the draining and cleaning of Hillhead reservoir we have now refilled the largest of the two tanks within the reservoir and we have isolated the second tank.

“We are working 24 hours a day, and early this morning we commenced flushing of the wider Hillhead network as we work to eliminate any traces of cryptosporidium. We will not lift the boil water notice in Hillhead until we and our public health partners are completely satisfied it is safe to do so.

“Our bottled water stations in Broadsands, Freshwater Quarry and Churston remain open to customers across the Brixham area between 7am and 9pm daily."

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Torbay Council’s Director of Public Health, added: “We continue to monitor the situation daily along with UKHSA, South West Water, NHS Devon and the Environment Agency to ensure that the public health measures continue to be effective in preventing further cases of cryptosporidium.

“We encourage residents to follow good hygiene practices to prevent onward spread of infection. Along with effective public health measures, including the boil water notice for areas where it still applies, we are confident that the right steps are being taken to ensure our residents and visitors are no longer at risk.

“For those areas still subject to the boil water notice, we continue to support local businesses to operate safely. It is important to emphasise that the outbreak has only affected a small area of Torbay and we remain open for business.”