Thames Water hit with largest ever fine for water company over sewage spills and breaking rules ...Middle East

THAMES WATER has been hit with a £122.7million fine — the largest ever for a water company.

It will pay £104.5million for sewage spills, plus £18.2million for breaking the rules over dividend payments.

Watchdog Ofwat slammed the struggling company for “letting down its customers and failing to protect the environment”.

It said Thames had “routinely and not in exceptional circumstances” released untreated sewage.

And, issuing its first fine over shareholder payments, it highlighted one of £37.5million in October 2023 to the firm’s holding company — plus another £131.3million dividend from March 2024.

Ofwat boss David Black, said: “Our investigation has uncovered a series of failures by the company to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure.”

Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water, said Thames’ actions were a “serious betrayal of customers and the environment”.

The fine must be paid by Thames and its investors, and not be passed on to its 16 million customers.

Thames hiked its bills by an average of 31 per cent in April.

It owes £19billion and is trying to restructure its finances through a sale to US investment firm KKR.

Thames insisted it takes its environmental responsibilities “very seriously” and said it was making progress addressing the issues.

BRANCH GROWTH

NATIONWIDE BUILDING SOCIETY says customers have been flocking to its branches over the past year as rival banks pull out of high streets.

Nearly 200,000 more have used its branches.

Nationwide has the second-largest branch network in the UK behind Lloyds. But Lloyds has been axing hundreds in recent years — with 136 more set to shut over the next year.

Nationwide, meanwhile, has pledged to keep all of its nearly 700 branches open until at least the start of 2028.

A PAW YEAR FOR PROFIT

RISING costs and lower animal sales have both dealt a blow to Pets At Home.

The chain reported a 16.6 per cent fall in profits in the year to the end of March, to £72.9million.

The firm benefited from the boom in pet ownership during the pandemic but demand has fallen since.

Profits at its vet arm climbed almost a quarter to £75.9million.

But it is facing a probe over prices on items such as pet medications.

CLOSING five depots and ­simplifying its structure has helped Magners and Tennent’s maker C&C Group return to profit, as it made £38.5million last year, compared to a £70.9million loss in 2023.

It sent shares climbing by 3 per cent.

B&Q'S HOT SPELL

THE recent warm weather has helped sales at B&Q owner Kingfisher to bounce back up by 5.9 per cent in the past three months.

Seasonal products such as garden furniture has flown off the shelves, with sales up by almost a third across B&Q. And they were a fifth higher at Screwfix.

But Kingfisher’s boss Thierry Garnier remained cautious, warning that “consumer sentiment remains mixed”.

Traders agreed with his negative view, sending shares down almost four per cent.

METER SCANDAL’S £140 PAYOUTS

EIGHT energy companies will pay an average £140 compensation to 40,000 customers forced to have pay-as-you-go meters installed.

They will pay £5.6million in compensation using guidelines set out by Ofgem.

They have also agreed to write off £13million of energy debts from customers who had a prepayment energy meter force-fitted between January 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023.

The firms involved are Scottish Power, EDF, E.ON, Octopus, Utility Warehouse, Good Energy, Tru Energy and Ecotricity.

Octopus inherited force-fitting cases when they acquired customers.

The firms have agreed to the compensation, ordered by Ofgem after a review. The watchdog’s Tim Jarvis said: “Our priority has been to put things right.

“We’ve made our expectations clear to suppliers on how customers who were treated poorly should be compensated.”

Some firms tried to ensure struggling customers paid their bills by forcing their way into their homes to install a meter, often when they were out.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said of yesterday’s ruling: “Justice is finally being delivered to many of the families, lots of them vulnerable, who were affected by the scandal.”

Dhara Vyas, chief of Energy UK, said: “Suppliers have worked hard to co- operate with this review.”

Customers will be contacted by their suppliers and do not need to take action.

GOOGLE'S £25BN RAP

GOOGLE is facing a £25billion lawsuit in Britain over its “excessive and unfair prices” in online advertising.

Roger Kaye KC, a former deputy High Court judge, has filed a lawsuit arguing that Google uses its dominant position to charge excessive rates.

He is seeking compensation for all advertisers who have paid for search advertising since 2011. Mr Kaye says it has affected between 500,000 and 1.5million advertisers.

GROCERY INFLATION 2YR HIGH

GROCERY price inflation has surged to 4.1 per cent — the highest since February 2023, according to analysts.

The figure takes the UK into “new territory”, warned market research company Kantar.

Prices rose the fastest for chocolate treats, suncare products, butter and spreads.

May’s hot weather sent sun cream sales climbing 36 per cent. Other rises included potato salad (up 32 per cent) chilled burgers (27), prepared salads and coleslaw (both 19).

Meanwhile, prices fell the fastest for dog and cat food, and household paper products.

Fraser McKevitt, from Kantar, said: “Households have been adapting their buying habits to manage budgets for some time.

“But we typically see changes once inflation tips beyond the three per cent to four per cent point as people notice the impact on their wallets.”

He said own-label lines were currently the fastest growing part of the market.

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