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Five water companies have been given provisional permission to raise their bills by between 1% and 5% more than previously granted by regulator Ofwat, the competition watchdog has said.

The green light comes after Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, and Wessex Water argued that Ofwat’s original decision left them unable to meet the regulatory requirements set out for them.

An independent group of experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Anglian and Northumbrian should be allowed to increase their bills by a further 1 per cent, Southern by 3 per cent, South East by 4 per cent and Wessex by 5 per cent.

Southern Water had already been allowed a 53 per cent increase to average bills over the next five years t

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