MAJOR water industry reforms which ‘put customers first’ are needed more than increases in bills, local MP Rachel Gilmour said this week.

Mrs Gilmour was speaking after an announcement that water bills are set to rise by an average of £33 per household from April.

The latest above-inflation increase is to raise funds to carry out improvements on leaking pipes, as well as sewage infrastructure.

It will mean the annual water bill in England and Wales will now be £639 a year, up 5.4 per cent on the previous year, while inflation currently runs at 3.4 per cent.

Mrs Gilmour said the increase was an ‘insult to families across the UK’ and reiterated calls to scrap the regulatory authority Ofwat for a new regulator with powers to put customers and the environment first.

Ofwat also agreed last year that water firms could increase bills by 36 per cent up to 2030.

Mrs Gilmour said: “People in Tiverton and Minehead and across the UK have been taken for granted by our water companies for far too long.

“In a cost-of-living crisis like this, it is outrageous for consumers to foot the bill for the failures of private water companies to clean up the mess they themselves created.

“These companies have a disgraceful track record of increasing bills for consumers, while still regularly polluting our waterways through disgusting spills.

“The Government’s timid reforms do not rise to the scale of the challenge.

“We do not need more tinkering, we need a total structural overhaul.

“Once again, this is more evidence for why Ofwat must be scrapped and replaced with a powerful new regulator with the teeth.

“The Government must also consider introducing a new and improved mutual ownership model, ensuring money is invested into infrastructure, not padding the pockets of shareholders.”