South east water companies among worst performers in England and Wales

England and Wales' water companies have been ordered to refund more than £260m to customers for poor performance.

The economic regulator Ofwat says 40% of that money has already been taken off this year's bills, with the rest to come off next year's. But bills are still due to rise steeply until 2030 to fund upgrades to the water system.

On Thursday, the Environment Agency gave England's water companies their worst ever combined marks in its annual rating system for their environmental performance in 2024, amid a spike in serious pollution incidents.

Industry body Water UK acknowledged that "the performance of some companies is not good enough" but pointed to investment since last year.