Severn Trent water bills rise 3.3pc

The company, which has also reduced sewer flooding by half in the past year, has confirmed that its bills for the coming 12 months will continue to be less than £1 a day, at a time when it is also investing billions of pounds in its water and waste network.

The 3.3 per cent rise in the bill for clean and waste water services, agreed after negotiations with Ofwat, will mean an average of £348 for the 4.3 million customers and eight million people served by the water company including in Shropshire and Mid Wales.

Nationally the average combined bill is £405.

Liv Garfield, Coventry-based Severn Trent’s chief executive, said: “We’re delighted that our customers will continue to enjoy the lowest average bills in the land, especially at a time when we know things are hard for some people.

“Our absolute priority is to improve our services for all of our customers in those areas that matter most to them, while also helping those people who are least able to afford our services.

“That’s why it’s so lovely to see that, alongside our service improvements, we’ve also beaten our target of helping 50,000 of our vulnerable customers with their bills.”

As well as reducing sewer flooding, the company has also seen a 12 per cent reduction in water quality complaints, and has invested £324 million across the region in the last six months alone.

One of the biggest projects the water supplier is currently investing in are the £300m Birmingham Resilience Project to provide the city with an alternative water supply.

Other recent announcements by Severn Trent confirmed the company’s plans to reduce its impact on the environment. The company is now self-generating the equivalent of 38% of the energy it uses, helping keep customer bills lower by reducing power costs, and it plans to replace its fleet of vans with alternative fuel vehicles when feasible.