CONTRACTORS have been drafted in to replace all the pipework at two Worcester centres used by hundreds of county residents after the potential killer Legionnaire's disease bug was found in their water systems.

The discovery of the Legionella bacteria was made in the shower block of the changing rooms at Brickfields' King George V Playing Fields and the kitchen sink of Dines Green's Green Centre last Friday.

Worcester City Council, which owns the buildings, has spent more than £10,000 re-designing and replacing the plumbing and have also applied chemical treatment to the water tanks.

Routine water system tests are also set to be doubled over the next few months.

The work at the playing fields' changing rooms should be finished by Monday morning with inspectors giving the green light for it to re-open on Saturday, November 22.

Hopes are high that the Green Centre will re-open on Monday morning.

Both re-openings depend on the results of extensive tests, but Anita Fletcher, the city council's principal environmental health officer, said it was highly likely they would be given the all-clear.

Ms Fletcher said the problem at Dines Green was isolated to a two-metre length of pipe feeding cold water to a deep sink in the kitchen.

"The problem arose from a freak situation whereby a small amount of hot water from a boiler was seeping into the system," she said.

"But that's now been rectified, pipework has been replaced, the tank removed, cleaned and re-filled, and the water chlorinated as an extra safety measure."

High temperatures

Independent inspectors say the summer's unusually high temperatures are the chief factor behind the problem at the playing fields changing rooms where cold water feeding a group of showerheads was warmed up by the atmosphere during the week-long period between the showers being used.

The council took the decision to close both centres within minutes of the Legionella bacteria being found during routine testing.

The news prompted more than 50 worried telephone calls to the council from concerned members of the public.

But the city's Environmental Health Division said there was no evidence of anyone being affected by the bacteria in Worcester.