TAP water in Worcestershire is among the best in the world and that is official.

Severn Trent Water was found to have tap water that was statistically significantly above the average of the standard by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

The independent watchdog is the only type of body in the world to regulate drinking water.

"It's great news for our customers, especially when there has been a battle between tap and bottled water," said Steve Hodgson, of Severn Trent Water.

"A good quality cheap way of drinking water is through the tap.

"They're not buying better quality with bottles and this is 800 times cheaper."

Severn Trent Water carries out around 250,000 tests a year, which have to meet a set of 60 different standards.

The number of tests that met this target was 99.91 per cent, a rise of .07 per cent from 2001.

"Severn Trent has been in the top five since 1997, which shows we're in an elite group of companies," said Mr Hodgson.

"Our drinking water is pretty much the best in the world. Few others can rival us.

"The DWI is unique across the world."