VALE water provider Severn Trent has announced that its annual profits have risen by nearly 20 per cent, despite a rise in leaks.

The company's profit has reached £270m while the firms turnover currently stands at £2.29bn, a rise of 14 per cent on last year but this increase comes after the Birmingham-based firm upped its prices.

Severn Trent has increased its prices by 15 per cent in the last twelve months as a result of a five-year regulatory deal allowing it to raise prices in exchange for infrastructure investment.

The firm said it has invested £400m in the past year in its assets, including pipes and reservoirs, and that £95m of that money went towards infrastructure renewals.

However, it was not all good news for Severn Trent as leaks in their area rose by three per cent on the previous year to around 17m litres daily.

A spokesman for the firm said: "It has been a fairly challenging year due to a dry summer, followed by short but severe cold periods creating ground movement, which has driven higher volumes of bursts over the winter."

Complaints against Severn Trent also went up last year by around 55 per cent according to Britain's Consumer Council for Water and this comes while the company is under investigation by industry regulator, Ofwat, for providing false information regarding complaints.

In April they said it had misreported statistics about the way it handled complaints from customers and enquiries about bills.

Ofwat will publish a final report of its findings later this month.