Anglian Water Bills To Go Up

5 February 2013, 14:58 | Updated: 5 February 2013, 15:08

The average combined water and sewerage bill in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire will be going up.

The water regulator OFWAT has announced the increases across the country today and the Anglian Water region will see increases - of around 3.5%

The average combined bill for the area for 2013/14 is expected to be £434 a year which is an increase of £12.

Regina Finn, Ofwat Chief Executive Officer told Heart: "Customers can’t choose their supplier. It’s our job to make sure they are protected. Back in 2009, companies wanted bills rises of 10 per cent above inflation. That didn’t chime with what customers told us they wanted, so we said they could only increase bills in-line with inflation.

We understand that there is huge pressure on household incomes, and any rise is unwelcome. Inflation is driving these increases.

These rises will help pay for investment of around £1000 for every household in England and Wales. This will deliver real benefits - from continuing to improve the reliability of supplies to dealing with the misery of sewer flooding for thousands of customers.

We will make sure customers get value for money, and if companies fall short in delivering their investment promises, we will take action. In the past seven years, we have made companies pay out around £550 million where they have underperformed."

Ciaran Nelson from Anglian Water told Heart the extra money is needed - and where the money's going: "New water treatment works, we're improving our water mains to deliver the clean fresh and reliable water that customers expect.

I think it's right that we are able to invest very heavily, £2.3bn over this current 5 year-period. The vast majority of the investment comes from our investors, but a small part of that cost does have to be bassed onto our customers."