Southern Water's £600m spending in Kent and Sussex

Southern Water pumps on Hastings seafront following flooding in November

Southern Water says it has spent more than £600m improving services across Kent and Sussex since 2020.

The announcement comes in a year when the company has been fined after raw sewage spilled into a stream killing about 2,000 fish and thousands of homes across Kent were left without water.

Customers were also told in February their data may have been stolen in a cyber attack on the company, and Sussex villagers lived with an "inundated" sewage system.

The company said it wanted to reassure bill payers their money was being spent "to fix the issues we know we face".

Southern Water says £333m has been spent since 2020 in Sussex, including £157m on improving wastewater treatment processes, £18m on preparing for new homes around Bexhill and Hastings and £23m replacing ageing infrastructure in Hastings and Brighton.

In Kent, £276m has been spent in the past four years.

This includes £58m to improve wastewater treatment processes, £13m on infrastructure in Margate and Ramsgate and £8m on its pumping stations, particularly at Margate and Broadstairs, to prevent sewer flooding.

The figures are being released now as Southern Water comes to the end of its current five-year spending period, and as its own Turnaround Plan nears the end.

This plan was put in place to deliver "fast-tracked performance improvements across the board", a spokesperson said.

John Penicud, director for wastewater operations, said: “As we enter an absolutely crucial year for Southern Water and the wider water industry, it is right that we are open with our customers about what we are spending on improving our performance and where the money is going."

He said he wanted to reassure the public that money was being spent "in an ambitious, targeted and evidence-based way to fix the issues we know we face".