United Utilities to increase water bills across Greater Manchester by 32 per cent

Water company United Utilities has confirmed bills will rise by 32 per cent over the coming five years.

The Warrington-headquartered company serves about seven million customers across Greater Manchester and Liverpool and said they had agreed the bill increases negotiated with regulator Ofwat last year.

The company had the option of appealing Ofwat's decision, made in December last year, to the competition regulator, but announcements on Wednesday signal it will not.

United Utilities said the increase would help improve water quality, reduce storm overflow spills by 60 per cent and provide millions of pounds more to support households with their bills.

The regulator's decision means the typical billpayer across the UK will see their payments rise by an average of £86 this April - and was met with outrage from consumer groups. The increases come amid high levels of sewage spills and underinvestment in pipes, sewers and reservoirs over the last decade.

United Utilities and South West Water, which has also said it will hike bills, have said they need to increase bills to pay for improvements to their infrastructure to reduce pollution incidents. UU boss Louise Beardmore said the rise in bills would raise £13 billion to invest in its infrastructure across the North West.

She said the total was the 'largest investment in water and wastewater infrastructure in over 100 years'.

The Environment Agency, meanwhile, working closely with Natural England, said it has secured the largest ever commitment from water companies to clean up the environment and invest in new infrastructure since privatisation.

The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) sets out over 24,000 actions water companies must take over the next five