The hot-water circuits in offices at the European Parliament in Strasbourg are to be turned off due to health concerns | Patrick Hertzog/AFP via Getty Images European Parliament in hot water over cold showers Water turned off because of health fears.

MEPs are in a lather at news that the hot water in their personal showers is to be turned off because of a health risk.

In an internal email seen by POLITICO, the quaestors — a group of EU lawmakers who deal with administrative matters and MEPs' working conditions — informed their colleagues that they "unanimously endorsed the recommendation to close down permanently the warm-water circuit in members' offices due to a too-high health risk."

That recommendation came from the European Parliament's medical service and from an independent expert who warned that "the warm-water circuits have a deteriorated condition due to their age and contain 'dead-end pipes' causing a permanent health risk linked to the potential growth of harmful bacteria," according to the internal email. Offices in Strasbourg and Brussels are affected. The decision by the quaestors was taken on October 24.

The problem isn't new. In March, POLITICO reported that EU lawmakers and staffers were told legionella bacterium had been found in showers in the Altiero Spinelli building in Brussels, causing the hot water to be turned off for several weeks while tests were carried out.

The most recent note sent to EU lawmakers added that the Parliament has "already been conducting studies and works which aim at creating short and separate warm-water circuits to areas for which warm water is indispensable such as kitchens, the Medical Service, hairdressers and certain other indispensable showers for supporting staff (such as catering personnel, removal operators) in order to significantly reduce the risk of contamination with Legionella."

More tests on MEPs’ offices — which typically contain a shower and a toilet, and for some a kitchenette — are being carried out and proposals on what action to take will be drafted the January next year, the email says.

British UKIP MEP Nathan Gill took to Twitter to vent his frustrations, saying: "How on earth can Brussels run a continent if it can’t even provide hot water in its buildings?!"

The European Parliament said warm water had been "cut for MEPs’ offices." It added that proposed compensation included installing shared showers and kitchenettes.

This article has been updated with a response from the European Parliament.