Water bill promise

HOUSEHOLD water bills could fall by up to £25 a year between 2020 and 2025, water regulator Ofwat has claimed.

It plans tougher rules on how much water companies can charge.

They are being asked to cut leaks by 170bn litres a year and Ofwat chief Cathryn Ross said: ‘They will need to be more efficient and innovative than ever.’

Ofwat chairman Jonson Cox has rapped firms over complex financial structures preventing them from being held to account.

And soaring bills since privatisation in 1989 have led to Labour pledging to renationalise the industry.