Compulsory new water tariff trial branded 'unfair'

A water company says the majority of people on its compulsory trial to reduce usage will not notice a "significant difference" to their bills.

Bristol Water's pilot scheme in Somerset charges customers more during the hotter summer months when there's more demand, and less over winter.

Around 3,000 people have been placed on the scheme backed by regulator Ofwat, including in Glastonbury, Wells and Burnham-on-Sea.

Michael Hiles, from Cheddar, said it was "extremely unfair" he was placed on it when he's already "very water conscious".

Mr Hiles told BBC Radio Somerset: "My winter water bill will be half and in the summer it will be double.

"I'm really water conscious and have a water meter - it's going to put my prices. Water is a very valuable source.

"I have three water butts and in the summer when it's hot, and I will use waste water from washing up across the garden.

"It seems really unfair that people are randomly chosen, and can't come off [the trial]."

Since our interview, Mr Hiles has told the BBC saying he's now been removed from the trial.

In correspondence seen by the BBC, Bristol Water said that Mr Hiles has a "consistent daily water usage throughout the year" and was "unlikely" to have noticed a difference to his bills.

Bristol Water is owned by a parent company called Pennon Group, which also owns South West Water.

Brett Conibere, Head of Service Insight and Support Services at Pennon, said: "By running a trial which is representative of our region, it will look to benefit thousands of customers in the future.

"Customers on our support tariffs are not on the trial and should any customer have a reason why they shouldn’t be on the trial, come and speak to us and we can look at it.

"We’re also doing our bit at Bristol Water, and have committed to improving water leakage and fixing pipes across our network."

Bristol Water was among the companies that were ordered to return millions of pounds to customers via lower bills next year after missing key targets on pollution and leaks.

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