WATER firm United Utilities says it is investing £290m over the next five years to reduce the number of leaks.

It has pledged to cut figures by 15 per cent and bills by 10 per cent.

The company says leakage levels across the UK have been reduced by seven per cent over the last year and it has met its regulatory leakage target for the last 14 years.

It also says it has beaten its current leakage reduction target by 16 million litres a day.

Hannah Wardle, a leakage manager at the company, said: “Our customers tell us that fixing leaks is one of the most important things.

“So we are investing in the latest technology plus a new generation of leakage detection professionals to make sure we can rise to the challenge and do even better.

“We’re going to be recruiting a further 45 new leakage detection engineers, and that includes 20 new apprentices specifically dedicated to tackling leakage.”