AROUND 260 residents of Long Preston were told to boil their water as a precaution.
Following the discovery of bacteria in the private water supply during a routine inspection by Craven District Council, residents were told on Monday last week to boil their water.
Those signed up to the council's text and email service were informed straight away, letters were sent out and a notice was posted on the Long Preston Water Trust website.
The precaution was lifted today, following fresh tests, but for many, the original warning was not received for two days.
Former parish councillor, Judith Mason, 70, said she only knew two days after the initial warning - when a council officer knocked at her door.
"What annoys me is the not knowing. A lot of my neighbours are elderly and need to drink a lot of water, like I do, and we're not on email or text, so we just didn't know, they need to look out how they do things," she said.
She went to the village post office to be told that a lot of people were going in there to ask if anyone knew what was going on.
Mrs Mason says she received her letter from the council on Friday and only learned of the lifting of the precaution today from a telephone call by Long Preston councillor, Chris Moorby.
A Craven District Council spokesman said: “We took a routine sample from the private water supply in Long Preston on January 28, and sent it off to be tested. The results came back on Monday, February 1, and showed bacteriological indicators. We know the water treatment systems are working so we suspected this may have been due to the tap tested rather than the water supply, but as a precaution we advised people to boil their drinking water.
“Residents in Long Preston who have signed up to the text and email service received notification shortly after the test results arrived. A number of residents have declined this service and so rely on letters, council officers and members of the community to inform them of potential issues. Letters were sent out first class to residents who receive the private water supply. The boil water notice was also on Long Preston Water Trust website."
The boil advice continued until today when it was lifted after three water samples proved to be clear.

In reponse to criticism in a delay in alerting people, the spokesman added: “We have a duty to send out letters to residents with the advice to boil water, which was fulfilled. In addition we contacted Long Preston Water Trust, which has control of the private water supply and which has set up the text and email alert for residents.”