76166-13RESIDENTS in Swindon are to be hit with an 18 per cent increase in their water bills for 2005-6 and a 24 per cent rise over the next five years.

The price hike is way above the national average of 11 per cent and will see this year's average Swindon bill rise from £209 to £246.62 a year.

This is despite the fact that Thames Water's Utilities made a pre-tax profit of more than £251 million in the financial year of 2003-04.

Thames Water says the extra money would help it cope with the expansion of the town and to pay for much needed maintenance work.

But the bills, which have begun falling on doormats in the area, and will all be sent out by March 12, were met with disgust on the streets of Swindon.

The increase is also much higher than those found to be acceptable to customers in a Mori poll which showed that 88 per cent of those interviewed were not prepared to see prices increase by more than £5, a rise of only two per cent.

Maurice Terry, chairman of WaterVoice, an independent body for water company customers, said: "Customers are besieged by rising bills for energy, council tax and other services, and sharp increases for water and sewerage could be the last straw.

"They could push thousands into debt to their water company for the first time. Yet the fact remains that there is no effective support from Government for those on low and fixed incomes who cannot absorb this increase.

"We would encourage customers who face difficulties to contact their company as soon as they are aware of a problem in paying."

Nick Tennant, spokesman for Thames Water, said: "The bills that we have set have been agreed by Ofwat so that we can invest £3.1 billion to address leakage and flooding.

"In year one the increase is larger. Over the next five years it will go up 24 per cent.

"That's so that we can get on with replacing Victorian water mains and attacking sewer flooding.

"The increase is bigger than in the following four years.

"We know price rises are never popular but we want to reassure customers they will help deliver vital improvements.

"The consequences of not investing would be even more unpopular.

"Swindon is growing rapidly, putting more and more pressure on the water network and on the sewer network and that demands new investment."

Problems

THAMES Water claim they need to increase bills to pay for necessary maintenance work to water mains and sewer works.

Earlier this month the company was ordered to pay £58,000 in fines and costs after raw sewage spilled out of one of its water treatment plants. More than 8,000 fish were killed when the effluent poured into the River Ray.

And in January the company caused traffic chaos for almost a week when a one of their pipes burst and buckled a 100ft stretch of the Great Western Way.

The incident was the second time the road had been closed in seven months due to a burst main. In June last year Great Western Way had to be closed for more than three hours after parts of the road were submerged in two feet of water causing widespread disruption.

Gareth Bethell