65,000 homes to get water back

Severn Trent hope to have the water supply restored to properties in and around Gloucester in the next 24 hours, as residents across the county are told the end of the crisis is in sight.

But residents in Gloucestershire could still face a two-week wait until it is safe to drink.

Nearly 140,000 properties across the region have been without water for over a week after flood waters submerged the Mythe treatment plant in Tewkesbury.

Millions of litres of water have been transported into Gloucestershire in tankers and bottles in one of the biggest peacetime operations Britain has ever seen.

The Army, the Red Cross and hundreds of volunteers joined the extraordinary relief effort to supply the region with water, as tens of thousands of people have been forced to queue for fresh water everyday.

But Severn Trent revealed the long wait to get back to normality was nearing an end, as the complex process of restoring the supply continues.

Around 12,000 homes in the Tewkesbury area have already been reconnected, and a further 66,000 properties in the Gloucester area are set to get their first supply of tap water for eight days.

On Tuesday, 27,000 homes in Cheltenham have also been told to expect water - meaning the area's major population centres will be supplied. The last area to get water - Woodmancote - will get tap water on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the costs of this summer's freak floods are beginning to emerge, as insurance companies are expected to face payouts of £2.5 billion to cover the costs of flood damage. A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said: "This is a very expensive year, for sure."