Each resident received 12-litres of bottled water per day

Thames Water confirmed that the supply to homes in the Pamber Heath area, on the Berkshire/Hampshire border, is now safe to drink.

More than 700 homes were without water while engineers investigated a possible contamination of supplies.

People have been advised to initially run kitchen taps for five minutes and hot water taps for 30 minutes.

Our investigations are continuing to establish the cause of this low-level contamination John Halsall Thames Water

Local health protection representatives gave the water supply a clean bill of health on Monday afternoon.

Thames Water's director of water services, John Halsall, said: "We would like to thank our customers in Pamber Heath for their patience and cooperation.

"We fully appreciate the inconvenience the restrictions in the use of water have caused and we would like to assure our customers that the mains water is now back to its usual high quality.

"Our investigations are continuing to establish the cause of this low-level contamination but customers can be assured that any traces of the petrochemical contaminate have now been completely eradicated from the water mains pipework."

Petrol-like taste

Thames Water said tens of thousands of litres of bottled water was distributed free of cost to the 764 affected homes over the weekend.

Residents received a flyer on Friday night informing them that water from taps may be unsafe to drink and should only be used for flushing toilets.

People had reported earlier that there was a petrol-like taste in their tap water.

The company has warned residents, many of whom are elderly, to be on the look out for bogus officials.