FLOODING has driven homeless hounds in Evesham to hit the bottle – bottled water, that is.

The recent heavy rain and subsequent flooding that caused the water supply in the local area to become contaminated also affected the Dogs Trust rehoming centre in Wickhamford.

Severn Trent Water advised the centre water should not be drunk without boiling first and supplied bottled water for human consumption.

But staff had to buy hundreds of two-litre bottles of water to ensure that the 150 dogs at the rehoming centre did not go thirsty.

Chris Slight, Dogs Trust Evesham rehoming centre manager, said: “Fortunately we weathered the storm but were left without clean running water.

“Our priority was to make sure that we had enough clean drinking water for the 150 dogs in our care, so staff rushed out and bought hundreds of bottles of water.

“Many of our dogs did not have the best start in life so we are keen to ensure that they are as comfortable as possible as they wait to find the loving homes they so deserve.”