IT sounds like a Del Boy scam direct from the script of Only Fools And Horses - but a North-East company has begun bottling ordinary tap water for distribution around the region.

But unlike Derek Trotter's famous Peckham Spring, no one is hoping to become millionaires out of the deal - the bottles are being handed out free to promote healthy living.

Northumbrian Water has come up with the idea and its bottling plant at Durham City is churning out more than 20,000 of the 500ml bottles - described as "still table water" - under the brand name 97.

The name, says the company, reflects the 97 tests on the water before it reaches Northumbrian Water's 2.6 million customers from Berwick to North Yorkshire.

The bottled water is being distributed free at venues such as fun runs, walks, schools and sporting tournaments, charity activities, fetes and picnics.

A spokesman said that 50 glasses of tap water cost only 1p and each bottle contains a quarter of the daily intake of water needed for healthy living.

Alistair Baker, of Northumbrian Water, said: "Tap water is tip-top quality and customers can take it for granted when they turn on the tap. It also represents amazing value for money.

"Putting it in bottles gives us the opportunity to share our splendid product in a convenient way for people to drink in any location - both indoors or out."

Coca Cola invested £7m early last year for the UK launch of its Dasani bottled water. It hit problems just a month later when it emerged that the basic product was taken from the tap.

It later withdrew the product after reports that Dasani samples contained above average levels of bromate, a chemical linked with cancer.