A BEWDLEY publican has had the bottle to offer river water for sale in the aftermath of the town's floods.

Selling for £1 a bottle, murky water from the cellars of The Black Boy Hotel is expected to be in big demand as a souvenir of the millennium flood - even from people who have been up to their waists in it in their living rooms during the last fortnight.

The floodwater has been analysed by Kidderminster-based water treatment experts Purac, and bottled and labelled to raise funds for Kemp Hospice, Kidderminster.

analysis

The idea of bottling the cloudy brown floodwaters of the River Severn for charity came to pub managers Mark Reeves and Robin Copeman when they were wondering what to do with half a cellar full of water at the height of the floods.

"It seemed a good way of getting rid of it. We have people staying here who had to get out of their homes. We thought the idea might lift their spirits," said Mr Reeves.

The pair have enlisted the help of the hotel's new French chef Julien Arnold in the bottling operation and hope to produce initially 500 bottles labelled and sealed in 330ml containers.

The Severn's vintage 2000 comes with a label carrying a large health warning: "Do Not Drink" .