Food and drink experts have crowned Severn Trent as the producers of Britain's best tasting tap water.

Water from 10 regions was marked by judges in a blind taste test at the Chelsea-based restaurant Tom's Kitchen.

The panel, which included Michelin starred chef Tom Aikens, gave each sample a mark out of five for clarity, smell and most importantly taste.

Severn Trent Water, which covers Birmingham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Nottingham, Leicester and parts of mid-Wales, was described as having a "clean taste" and being "very fresh" by Mr Aikens.

Richard Rotti, head of wines at Annabel's and a panellist, said the water was "beautifully pure, a mountain stream of freshness".

David Wickens, quality and environment manager for Severn Trent Water, said: "Severn Trent takes the production of high quality drinking water very seriously, so we're naturally delighted to have come top in this blind test.

"The results demonstrate that we're doing a good job in providing our customers with top-quality, great tasting water."

Anglian Water, which covers East Anglia and parts of the East Midlands, was placed second while Thames Water, which covers Oxfordshire, London, Wiltshire, north Kent, Thames Valley and Surrey came third.

The tasting competition was set up to celebrate the launch of a new initiative from the Green Thing, an environmental group.

The Drink Tap campaign will encourage people to stop drinking bottled water and switch to tap water during August.

Green Thing aims to highlight the beneficial impact that this change will have on the environment. With tap water there is no plastic to recycle and no carbon emissions from transportation of the product.

Naresh Ramchandani, co-founder of Green Thing, said: "The Drink Tap regional taste test is designed to highlight that everybody has access to perfect, clean and pure water that's been supplied by the water boards.

"Switching to tap for the month of August will make a huge contribution to helping the environment and it will probably save you a few pennies as well."

The top 10 tap waters were:

1. Severn Trent Water
2. Anglian Water
3. Thames Water
4. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water
5. Southern Water - Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Isle of Wight
6. Scottish Water
7. South West Water
8. Yorkshire Water
9. United Utilities - Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria
10. Wessex Water