Thames Water has been fined after failing to reach its leak reduction targets in 2016/17.

The Water Services Regulation Authority, Ofwat, has fined the utility £8.55 million after the company revealed it missed it's leakage reduction target by 47 million litres per day.

In it's full year results, it said: "After outperforming our annual target for 10 years, and reducing leakage by 100 million litres per day over that period - the equivalent of 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools - we regrettably missed our 2016/17 leakage reduction target by 47 million litres per day, which represents 1.8% of our average daily production."

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Ofwat Chief Executive Cathryn Ross said the failure by Thames Water to meet leakage commitments is "unacceptable".

"Our performance commitment regime imposes significant penalties for failure to deliver the levels of performance that customers have paid for and consequently, Thames Water will now face the maximum penalty," she said.

"We take very seriously our responsibility to ensure that every water company is delivering for its customers and where they fall short, we do not hesitate to step in to protect customers' interests."

(LM/MH)