Stop leaks if water bills are to rise - campaigner

Campaigner Alison Biddulph said the proposals by firms to reduce leakage and pollution incidents did not go far enough

Water companies in the West Midlands should do more to stop sewage leaks if bills are to rise more than 20%, a campaigner says.

Regulator Ofwat has proposed that bills should increase by an average of £19 per year between 2025 and 2030.

Bills for Severn Trent Water users will go up by 23%, with a 29% hike for customers of Welsh Water - a service provider covering Herefordshire - and a smaller 14% rise for those with South Staffordshire Water.

But the industry maintains that is not enough to tackle on-going problems - a position which in turn has frustrated campaigner Alison Biddulph from Shropshire.

She believes proposals by water firms to reduce leakage and pollution incidents are not sufficiently ambitious if conditions of local waterways are to be improved.

In February, Severn Trent was fined more than £2m for discharging 260m litres of sewage into the River Trent in Staffordshire.

The water industry wants bills to rise by an average of 33% by 2030 but a final figure is due from Ofwat in December, following consultation.

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"The first thing I would like to see is them build some reservoirs to contain the untreated sewage rather than just discharging it into the rivers because that's not acceptable," Ms Biddulph said.

"When they talk about reducing it by 20% - no, it needs to be 100%."

The new chancellor Rachel Reeves has already told the industry it must deliver for consumers.

"We have already announced that money that was supposed to go into infrastructure can't be paid out in bonuses, and tougher rules around polluting as well," the chancellor said.

"We are determined to get a grip on the water sector so that it delivers for consumers, so that it stops polluting our beautiful seas and rivers."

South Staffordshire Water said it recognised that bills would go up, but wanted to assure customers the company had a number of mechanisms to protect those who may be struggling.

Welsh Water said the regulator had "not approved all of the investment that we requested to drive the improvements that we all want to see".