Filthy rich

Water companies' astonishing payouts to shareholders revealed

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

Yet bills are sky-high and leaks & pollution soar to dismal record

WATER companies have handed nearly £80billion to investors since the industry was privatised more than 30 years ago, it has emerged.

The dividend bonanza includes £2.5bn in the past two financial years alone. But suppliers have been slammed for raising customer bills while failing to tackle the industry's dismal track record on leaks and pollution.

When Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher began privatising the industry in the late 1980s, it owed nothing.