Taps will be shut off at garages across Norwich amid fears about dangerous bacteria. 

City Hall says it will be removing the taps across its rented sites, as they fail to meet hygiene standards and may be contaminated. 

Critics have denounced the authority for not acting sooner, potentially putting people at risk of serious illnesses that can be contracted from bacteria in water droplets. 

The council owns more than 100 garages across the city but says it does not know how many currently have taps. 

Many taps are already disusedMany taps are already disused (Image: Eleanor Storey)

Lucy Galvin, leader of the Green group at Norwich City Council, said: "Safety is very important and we question why the council appears not to have had any measures in place on this to date, despite residents repeatedly raising the issue.

"Many garages are poorly maintained and managed. Now they seem to be rushing into this action without due consultation and without even knowing how many garages it affects or being transparent about the costs."

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Councillor Lucy GalvinCouncillor Lucy Galvin (Image: Submitted)

Garages are available to rent around Norwich to park vehicles in and many people use the water supply to clean their cars. 

A spokesman for Norwich City Council said: "We have identified that a number of our garage sites contain old plumbing and taps which are susceptible to damage from freezing, and, where they are not used regularly, may not meet the guidelines for maintaining good water hygiene.

"At some sites, we have noted that unauthorised modifications have also been made, allowing water to be taken from the system using unsuitable hoses and similar pipes. This practice is in contravention of water bylaws which are intended to protect the public water supply from contamination.

"We have checked our records and have identified that there is no provision of water supplies in the leases for the garages across all of our sites. To enable us to best mitigate the risks that we have identified, we will be notifying garage users of our intention to remove any taps that are present."