Thames Water given maximum £8.5m fine for missing leak target

Penalty for 'unacceptable' water leaks comes three months after the company received a record fine for an untreated sewage leak

Thames Water will pay a 8.5m penalty after failing to meet its target to cut water leakage from its pipes. Ofwat, which regulates the privatised water industry, called the failure "unacceptable" and said the penalty was the maximum possible.

Leaks from Thames Water's network rose by 5% in the last year, or 35m litres per day. In May, the Guardian revealed that amid fears of a drought and with some water companies asking customers to save water, the vast amount of water that leaks from company pipes every day across England has not fallen for at least four years.