1.7m homes face 10% water bill rise

ABOUT 1.7m households in Essex and Suffolk face a near 10% rise in their water bills because of the financial failings of their formerly French-owned local water company.

Essex & Suffolk Water, along with its parent company Northumbrian Water, said it had won a rise in the average annual household bill, which will take water only bills in part of East Anglia up from £113 to £124 from April next year.

The rise has been granted in an emergency adjudication by the industry regulator Ofwat.

Northumbrian said it needed more money because of bad debts among customers.

French utility giant Suez sold Northumbrian in a £2.1bn deal this year. It has since floated on the Stock Exchange but was slated by stockbroker Merrill Lynch, which said its expensive debts left it with an 'unsustainable financial structure'.