Yorkshire Water has begun a £7.3m scheme to renew 18.8km of water mains between Weston and Ilkley, aimed at improving the reliability of drinking water supplies, cutting leakage and reducing the risk of bursts.

The work started this month and will see contract partner United Infrastructure replace more than 18km of mains on local streets by the end of the summer.

Nichola Fairbairn, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: "We are undertaking a huge upgrade to our clean water infrastructure, having already replaced over 120km of water mains across Yorkshire since the start of our investment period in April 2025 – estimated to be saving 1.24 million litres of leakage every day.

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"The scheme between Ilkley and Weston is one of our larger mains replacement projects and will provide significant benefit to the local areas. With bursts and potential loss of supply much less likely, we'll be delivering the quality and reliability of service that our customers rightly expect."

The programme forms part of Yorkshire Water's £8.3bn investment in the region over the next five years, which includes £406m to replace more than 1,000km of water mains. Residents in the area have been informed about potential localised disruption.