Severn Trent's £140m on leaks

Water group Severn Trent revealed today it is spending £140 million this year plugging leaks as it works to cut the 100 million gallons a year lost from its pipes.

Last year it was the only water firm to miss leakage targets set by the regulator, Ofwat, but Severn Trent spokesman Andrew Marsh said it was expecting to meet this year's target figure.

The West Midlands company has committed itself to spending more on repairing leaks in its pipes.

Earlier this summer it had to pay a £2 million court fine for providing Ofwat with false leakage data in 2001 and 2002, and has also been fined £35.8 million.

But it was trying to put the scandal behind it today at its shareholders' meeting at Birmingham's ICC.

Investors were told the company was trading "in line with expectations", with prices up by 5.07 per cent since April.

But the wet summer was having an impact on consumption as households, golf courses and councils needed to do less watering thanks to the rain.