DRINKING water in Redbridge is of a high quality, according to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mr Morley told Leyton and Wanstead MP Harry Cohen that Thames Water, and Essex and Suffolk Water, which supply water in Redbridge and Waltham Forest, have passed regulation tests.

For 2001, 99.89 per cent of 17,951 tests met the standards of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations.

In 2003, drinking water standards were met in 99.91 per cent of a total of 18,441 tests. During this year, only two samples failed to comply with the national standard of iron.