WEST Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has continued his attack on what he labelled as ‘probably the worst water company in the country’.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said South West Water (SWW) had a lot of explaining to do as to why it had left the Westcountry chronically short of supplies.

He said the company needed to reveal why it had imposed drought restrictions on thousands of customers across Devon and Cornwall while none were in force for homes supplied by neighbouring Wessex Water, an area where rainfall was generally lower.

Mr Liddell-Grainger was speaking after he and other Westcountry MPs met David Black, chief executive of Ofwat, which is currently running two in-depth investigations into South West Water’s activities.

One centres on its management of waste water and the other on figures it submitted last December for leak management and customer consumption.

If Ofwat uncovers discrepancies in SWW’s reporting on leaks and consumption the company could face a penalty equivalent to 10 per cent of its turnover.

If it is found to be in breach of wastewater regulations, SWW would be ordered to implement improvements and could also be fined, the cost in both cases falling on shareholders.

But Mr Liddell-Grainger said it was already abundantly clear that SWW’s resource management had been ‘abysmal’.

He said: “When we hear that one reservoir in Cornwall is already down to 14 per cent capacity, clearly, we are looking at failings on a massive scale.

“Yet, to judge by the dividends still being shovelled into shareholders’ pockets by its parent company you would think that everything in the garden was lovely.

“South West Water says it has set aside £75 million to remedy leaks but the real problem is nobody knows how serious the situation is. It could turn out to cost double that to remedy.

“Leak reduction is what it should have been prioritising with the millions it rakes in from consumers.

“Instead, it has been flinging obscenely large chunks of that money at shareholders.

“South West Water has been squandering millions of money which should have gone on new reservoirs and it is now causing hardship for thousands of customers.

“Clearly, it is not fit for purpose and I can only applaud Ofwat’s diligence in seeking to unravel and expose the mess it has created.”

South West Water said it did not want to comment on Mr Liddell-Grainger’s criticisms.