South-East hosepipe ban symptom of ‘legalised fleecing’ of households

Today’s announcement of a hosepipe ban to affect Kent and Sussex has been condemned by GMB, the union for water and utilities.

The ban comes into force today and will leave any household using a hosepipe or sprinkler to water their garden or wash their car facing a fine of up to £1,000.

Justin Bowden, GMB Regional Secretary said:

“The two greatest achievements of the privatised water companies have been to convince the British public that water is a scarce resource in this country, alongside the extraction of billions of pounds of taxpayers' cash whilst failing to invest sufficiently in water infrastructure.

“Privatisation of the water industry has amounted to 40 years of the legalised fleecing of every household in the country.

"Three billion litres of water leak away every day due to underinvestment, while hosepipe bans are imposed after one of the wettest springs on record.

"GMB's policy has long been to bring water provision back into public ownership, where the network of pipes from source to tap can be properly repaired and maintained, bills can be reduced for customers and maybe a little less sewage can be dumped in our rivers and seas while we're at i