The PRA has reacted angrily to assertions that car washes in the UK may harbour Legionnaires’ disease. It followed a warning by a medical expert Dr Tom Makin, senior consultant at Legionella control who advises the Department of Health. He was responding to the discovery that two men became seriously ill with Legionnaires’ disease after inhaling infected water droplets from separate car washes in Italy, and said the same risk applied to the UK.

"Italy is not the UK," stressed PRA chairman Brian Madderson. "British drivers can rest assured that the Health and Safety regulations minimise any risk of this occurring in the UK. We’ve never had a case of legionella in the UK due to the way we disinfect our water systems."