Sewage spills Ofwat tells water firm to pay £11m over poor performance

ESSEX Water should be fined £11million, regulator Ofwat has said.

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The watchdog said failures by the company, which is responsible for Bristol's sewage, had resulted in polluting spills from storm overflows.

Ofwat stressed the company would not be able to cover the cost of the enforcement action through its customers or increases to bills.

However, it comes after the firm put up its water bills by an average of 20%, or £113, this year.

Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “Our investigation has found that Wessex Water failed to effectively operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater assets, which meant there were spills from storm overflows when there shouldn’t have been.

“To their credit, the company has been one of the more proactive in investigating and rectifying the problems identified. However, there remain breaches which must be accounted for and corrected.”