SIR – Over the past two years Yorkshire Water has been working closely with Ofwat, our customers and our stakeholders to shape our business plan for the next five years. To ensure we developed the right plan for our five million customers, we went through the biggest consultation ever carried out by a water company.

It’s precisely because so many people played a part in developing this plan that we’re sure it’s the right one for Yorkshire. We’ll be investing £3.8 billion in the region from 2015 to 2020 and over a third of that will be in projects that will benefit the environment, something that our customers made clear was so important to them. Some £180 million will be set aside to improve the quality of Yorkshire’s inland waterways, £10 million will be spent on passes to help fish migrate through Yorkshire’s river network and £31 million will help us reduce the impact of storm water discharges into rivers.

On top of this, we’ll commit £1.3 billion to maintaining the company’s existing and extensive network of 700 water treatment works, 133 reservoirs and 62,000 miles of pipes. And the great news for customers is that our bills, already some of the lowest in the UK, will still be coming down by three per cent. Thanks again to everyone who has helped to play a part in our plan.

Richard Flint, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Water