Extortionate! 'Ofwat caved to pressure from water firms to hike bills while they line the pockets of shareholders'

MILLIONS of households and businesses face "extortionate" water bill rises as bosses pocket millions worth of bonuses.

- Steph Spyro

Companies in England and Wales will hike bills by around £31 a year - 36% before inflation - to an average of £597 by 2030, to help pay for a £104billion industry upgrade.

Some people, including Southern Water customers, face increases of up to 53%.

The typical water bill will rise by an average of £86 from April for a year before easing, the industry regulator has said. Ofwat said firms were expected to hike tariffs more in the first year.

Sienna Somers, of Friends of the Earth, said: "Ofwat has caved to pressure from water companies to hike bills, leaving people to pick up the tab for decades of underinvestment in our crumbling water infrastructure.

"Dirty water companies shouldn't be able to rely on their customers to foot ever higher bills while they line the pockets of their shareholders and leave our rivers brimming with sewage.

"These extortionate price rises won't guarantee us cleaner water or solve the sewage crisis they simply reward firms for breaking the rules that protect people and nature.

"That's why now, more than ever, we need the human right to a healthy environment enshrined in law, so communities can hold water companies to account."

Campaigners said yesterday's announcement would leave OAPS who have already lost their winter fuel payment reeling.