A woman campaigning for a reduction in water rates for Ledbury residents is compiling evidence to show that sales of bottled water soared this summer because people would not drink the earthy-tasting tap water.

Catharine Luck, of The Southend, is in contact with all the supermarkets in town, including Tesco, Spar and Somerfield.

She hopes to present a case to Welsh Water that there should be a widespread reduction in water charges to make up for the fact that the supply was affected by an "algal residue".

Ms Luck decided to act after attending a meeting at the Barn House on Thursday, September 27, when water watchdog Ofwat asked Welsh Water officials about more than 1,000 complaints from Ledbury residents over water quality this summer.

Ms Luck, who was one of 14 Ledbury residents at the meeting, said: "It was a very good meeting. Welsh Water seemed to be stumbling a bit to me."

She said of the water quality in Ledbury: "It was disgusting in the summer. I didn't give it to my grandson. He has a very good sense of taste."

Following the Barn House meeting, Oftwat's customer service committee chairman for the Welsh Water region, Dr John Ford, said: "We expect Welsh Water to take urgent steps to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen again. We were delighted that customers turned up at the meeting and put their views politely but forcibly."

Ofwat is not calling for any specific action against Welsh Water but believes it should have offered bottled water to customers who requested it, before special carbon filtering was used to get rid of most of the algal residue in the supply.

At the meeting, Welsh Water agreed to hold a follow-up meeting in Ledbury at a date still to be agreed.

But since the first meeting, the water company has said it will meet concerned customers individually to discuss the issue face to face.

Welsh Water spokesman Wynford Emannuel said: "The water supplied was fit to drink and that is our supply obligation.

"We regret that some customers were inconvenienced during the summer. However, we must emphasise that the substance affecting the taste noticed by some customers was not harmful and we took action to deal with it."

l Lotta bottle: Catharine Luck who is campaigning for a reduction in water rates. Picture: Debbie Thomson 40433317