Lancashire residents taking legal action against United Utilities

Five people in Lancashire, including a 3 year old boy, are taking legal action against United Utilities.

It's after they became ill during the Cryptosporidium outbreak.

700 thousand people had to boil their water for several weeks back in 2015, when the bug contaminated the supply.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell have been instructed to act on behalf of the group, which includes a three-year old boy who fell ill as a toddler after drinking the contaminated tap water.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite which can cause gastrointestinal infection, and is most common in children who are aged between one and five.

United Utilities have already been prosecuted over the contamination by the Drinking Water Inspectorate. They admitted providing water unfit for human consumption and are due to be sentenced in October.

Milo Valente, three from Blackpool, fell ill in March 2015 after drinking the contaminated water as a toddler. He was diagnosed with cryptosporidium, but unaware of the contamination, Milo continued to be given tap water by his mother Carley, 33, and he suffered from diarrhoea and weight loss.

Carley, a teaching assistant, said: “It was heartbreaking to see Milo suffer like he did when he was a toddler due to his cryptosporidium diagnosis. Like all new mums, one of my biggest fears was Milo being upset and poorly, and when I had to endure this it was worse than I ever imagined.

“Like the many other people affected by the outbreak, we just want answers for how it was allowed to happen in the first place.”

Amandeep Dhillon, a Partner and Public Health specialist at Irwin Mitchell said: “Cryptosporidium can have serious health implications for those affected and in our work we have seen first-hand the long-term issues that it can cause, from which some victims may sadly never fully recover.

“We are working with our clients to ensure they get the answers they deserve as to how the cryptosporidium parasite came to be present in the tap water.”