South West Water (SWW) has agreed to give Brixham businesses a £1.2 million boost to support the recovery of local tourism following this summer’s cryptosporidium outbreak.

The incident, which was first detected in May, resulted in some 17,000 households in Kingswear, Hillhead and Brixham having to boil their tap water after a parasite got into the supply.

There were about 100 reported cases of cryptosporidiosis as a result of the outbreak, with dozens falling ill with symptoms that included vomiting and diarrhoea.

SWW has pledged the money, paid over the next three years, as part of a Destination Marketing Recovery Fund, which is intended to repair reputational damage to the area.

The funding, which will be managed by the English Riviera BID Company, will reportedly be used for marketing initiatives, including advertising campaigns such as TV ads that will begin airing next spring.

According to Chris Hart, chairman of the English Riviera BID Company, local tourism was badly hit as a result of the outbreak.

“Our research showed that around £34m of bookings were lost at the time of the outbreak, with an estimate £6m in future bookings also lost,” he told the BBC.

He went on: “The aim now is to use the funding to repair the reputational damage that has been caused, and to present Brixham and the English Riviera in a really positive light, showing off the great area this is.”

Local businesses have reportedly welcomed the cash boost, while SWW, whose parent company Pennon Group took a £16.3m hit as a result of the outbreak, said it was important to do what it could to support local businesses and the community in Brixham.

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden welcomed the announcement “after the devastation wreaked upon Brixham’s tourism industry by South West Water’s appalling handling of the cryptosporidium outbreak”.