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Water company Severn Trent has said dealing with the recent flooding crisis is likely to have cost the company up to £35 million.

In a statement today the utilities firm stressed that both the scale of the incident and the response to it were "unprecedented" in the recent history of the water industry.

Warnings about the likely cost of the clean up from last month's bad weather come after Severn Trent announced yesterday that tap water for some 140,000 homes in Gloucestershire is now safe to drink after supplies were disrupted by the floods.

An estimated 340,000 customers in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire were left without running water for over a week after the company was forced to close its Mythe water treatment works near Tewkesbury on July 22nd due to flood damage.

Severn Trent, which claims to have distributed over 50 million litres of bottled water to affected residents since the flooding crisis began, said that it was only now beginning to quantify the economic cost of the severe weather which struck parts of the country.

The company, which also deployed over 1,300 water bowsers to communities hit by the flooding, revealed that the gross cost of dealing with the floods is likely to be between £25 million and £35 million.

However water bosses stressed that the short-term cost would be partially offset by insurance recoveries which are estimated to be in the range of £10 million and £20 million.

"The estimated gross costs and recoveries may be subject to material revision over the coming weeks as the full extent of these become clearer and we will update the market accordingly," Severn Trent warned.

While customers whose water services were disrupted by the floods will not be entitled to compensation due to the "exceptional nature" of the weather, the company did reveal that it was offering up to £3.5 million to affected communities to support their recovery.

"We believe that a contribution such as this will be of long term benefit for all in the community," stressed Severn Trent.

The water company said it expected to have a "fuller understanding" of the extent of costs stemming from the flooding crisis by its interim pre-close update in early October.