N.Ireland hit by drinking water health alert

Officials in Northern Ireland are asking residents of south Belfast to boil tap water, following the discovery of cryptosporidium - which causes diarrhoea, stomach cramps and nausea - in the water supply.

Officials in Northern Ireland are asking residents of south Belfast to boil tap water, following the discovery of cryptosporidium - which causes diarrhoea, stomach cramps and nausea - in the water supply.

The Department for Regional Development said 54 cases of illness had been reported over the 10 days to Thursday but that the figure now stood at 63.

On Thursday, authorities advised 17,000 households in the Poleglass, Dunmurry and Lisburn areas to the city's south to boil tap water.

A government spokesman said today that another 12,000 homes in the Lisburn town area had been given the same advice.

"We estimate a total of 90,000 consumers are within the area where we are advising them to boil water before consumption." the department's spokesman said.

Cryptosporidium was detected after tests on mains water supplies but samples taken in consumers' homes proved negative so far, he said.

"The water service is working actively to try to discover the source of the contamination." he added.