Severn Trent has now rounded up 90 per cent of water bowsers that it deployed during the Gloucestershire flooding and its aftermath at the end of July. Now it is looking for bowser spotters to help recover the rest.

There are still around 150 missing bowsers which have failed to make it back to Severn Trent’s collection point at the special ‘bowser departure lounge” at Staverton Airport. The bowsers began to be withdrawn from streets once tap water supplies were restored to 140,000 homes across the Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury area.

Martin Kane, Severn Trent’s director of customer services, said:  “Some of these bowsers may have been stolen, but in some cases they may also have been moved by customers to a different place during the period that mains water supply was lost.

“In addition, among the bowsers collected up to this morning, around 150 suffered damage. These are being inspected and checked before their return to companies who kindly supplied them to us.

“We would simply ask any customer who sees a bowser while on their travels to give our bowser line a call."