Watchdog berates Thames Water and Southern Water over level of complaints

Southern Water – which serves customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – was the most-complained about company in the past year, says the CCW report. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Under-fire Southern Water and Thames Water have been named the “standout poor performers” in handling complaints from customers over the past year by a water watchdog.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) found that customers of the two water companies, which together supply water and provide wastewater services to more than 20 million people in England, are “being let down by a failure to understand and deal with the causes of high levels of complaints from their customers”.