Tests on Leicester college's water supply show no trace of Legionnaires' disease

Tests conducted on a city college’s water supply after a workman contracted Legionnaires' disease have found no trace of the potentially fatal bacteria.

A plumber was taken to hospital after working on a disused building at New College in New Parks, Leicester, last month.

Leicester City Council carried out tests on the school’s building and water supply and today confirmed no trace of the disease had been found. A spokesman said they could not confirm whether the plumber caught the disease at the school or elsewhere.

“All the tests we’ve carried out at the school buildings came back negative for legionella,” he said. “Although we believe it may have been linked to a disused section of plumbing, it is impossible to confirm exactly how the workman contracted it.

“The water system being worked on at the time has now been drained and dismantled, and we are arranging for the contractors to complete the parts of the demolition work which were delayed by this incident.”

When the plumber became infected, city council bosses told the Mercury they were confident the disease was isolated to a disused building which staff and students have not had access to for about seven years.

They said there was no risk to either the staff or the 900 students at the college.

A second man, who also fell ill, tested negative for the potentially fatal bug.

The men were contracted by the city council to dismantle the building as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme.