An Abingdon-based actor caught up in the Camelford water poisoning disaster of 1988 is shocked by the discovery of a rare form of Alzheimers in the town.

A report out this week says people who were living in the Cornish town when water supplies to 20,000 people were polluted with aluminium should be tested, after a woman developed a strain of the brain disease.

Martin Gaisford, 47, said: "This is the second time what happened has resurfaced in the news in recent years. And, of course, this is very worrying for everyone who was living in Camelford at the time.

"I try not to worry about it too much because I think you can make yourself ill doing that, but the possible effects of what happened are always lurking there in the back of your mind, of course they are."

Mr Gaisford, who runs his own murder mystery event company and lives in Radley Road, Abingdon, was living alone in Camelford when the town became the scene of the UK's worst ever poisoning disaster.

He said: "The first time I knew something was wrong was after coming in from walking my dog.

"He was filthy after swimming in the river so I put him in the bath to wash him, but I noticed that despite using a whole bottle of shampoo, I couldn't get a lather.

"Afterwards I jumped in the bath myself and straight away noticed that all of the hairs in my body were stuck to me.

"I got back out, knowing something was wrong and instead of using the cool water, which I could see was a murky brown, I used the hot water from the tank, thinking that would be okay, to wash myself off.

"Thankfully I was single at the time, and was drinking mostly beer. I had made myself a cup of tea, but didn't get around to drinking it. Then later, down at the pub, everyone was talking about it."

Mr Gaisford and the other residents later learned that 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate had been delivered into the wrong tank at the then South West Water Authority water treatment works at Lowermoor on the edge of Bodmin Moor.

People across a large area of north Cornwall were exposed to levels of aluminium around 500 to 3,000 times the acceptable limit.

"There was a huge cover-up about the dangers, no doubt about it," said Mr Gaisford.

"Mostly everyone in the town, including myself, had a claim in and got paid out for it. But it was very much a case of: 'If you take this money, go away and forget about it.' "When we found out the company had been fined £10,000 and just basically got a slap on the wrist, I thought it was disgusting."

He added: "My wife's family still live in the area in Boscastle and we haven't heard anything about people getting ill. But you still worry."

Leading UK neuropathologist, Professor Margaret Esiri of the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, is one of the authors behind the latest report into the disaster.

She examined the brain and spinal cord of 59-year-old Carole Cross, who died in hospital two years ago, and found a high concentration of aluminium.

A Department of Health spokesman said they would be examining the report's findings.