RESIDENTS in an apartment block have been warned to not drink water from the taps, after a strange smell was reported to be oozing from the building last night. 

Firefighters were called out last night at 9.45pm to Chattenham House in Newbury, after a strong smell was found to be coming from the building

The crew found out that the water supply to the building had been contaminated, after the managing agent of the property had undertaken maintenance work on the water tank.

Watch manager, Ian Whatley, of Newbury fire station, said: "We tested for contamination and found that the managing agent had coated part of the water tank with some sort of toxin. 

"Thames Water have told residents not to drink the water and issued them with bottled water. It seems to us that after the work the agent did on the water tank, they just filled it up with water too soon."

A spokesman from Thames Water said that the problem was an internal issue in Chattenham House and does not affect wider water supplies.  

They said: "We provided residents of Chattenham House with bottles of water to drink last night after they called us out to the property.

"Our technician could smell this substance as soon as they got into the building. The first thing we did was test the water in the building and then test the water in the pipes that feed the building. We found that the water in the pipes that feed the building were all clear so it is an internal issue.

"We spoke to the managing agent of the property and they said they had some work done on the tank last weekend. 

"It may take a few days to sort out the whole system because they will have to flush water through to make sure that there is no trace of whatever this is."