Thames Water should have their £2.4m exec bonus banned for failing to fix leaks

West Berkshire’s Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to ban bonuses for Thames Water after revealing they paid their company executives eye-watering bonuses, despite failing to fix leaking pipes ahead of this summer's drought.

The Liberal Democrats have blamed Thames Water for people in West Berkshire now facing the prospect of weeks of hosepipe bans. 

Water company bosses from Thames Water were awarded £2.4m in bonuses despite companies leaking billions of litres of water every day. Some water companies such as Thames Water lose up to a quarter of all their water from leaks alone. 

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Newbury, Lee Dillon, has said the money should be going into fixing their leaking pipes instead. 

Water companies have only promised to halve leaks by 2050 despite predictions of a rise in summer droughts as record temperatures continue to be broken. 

England’s water company bosses have awarded themselves almost £27 million in bonuses over the past two years, despite reports they allow a staggering 2.4 billion litres of water to be leaked every day.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Newbury, Lee Dillon, said:

“It is outrageous that whilst thousands of people in West Berkshire look set to be soon suffering from hosepipe bans, water company bosses reward themselves with these bonuses despite not even bothering to fix leaks. 

“The worst part is, Ministers are just letting water firms get away with scandal after scandal and residents in our area are sick of it. These are the very same water companies which pollute our local rivers with disgusting sewage, harming animals and people swimming in them.

“It is time someone stood up to these companies and demanded action. That should start with fixing these leaks, and then once and for all ending the sewage pumping into waterways.”