The boss of Chelmsford-based Essex and Suffolk Water has promised as much as £18 off an average bill this year while still supplying some of the best quality water in Europe.

John Cuthbert says the firm's efficiency has been gauged to have improved so much that the "pendulum" that favoured shareholders has been swung for the time being to favour water users.

The average 13.8 per cent cut will coincide with mid-Essex water users getting separate bills-one for the supply of water by ESW the other for the disposal of waste water by Anglian Water.

Mr Cuthbert says this gives each firm the opportunity to promote its own services at bill time and to remove remaining confusion about the two separate water service operations from customers' minds.

His firm's water supply costs will drop, with variations according valuation bands from £128 to £110 this year. He believes that no redundancies would result from the cut in revenue. Sixty jobs were cut in an efficiency move last year.

There are however plans to integrate ESW with another French-run Lyonnaise des Eaux company in North East England this year which could have management implications.

"I cannot at this stage say whether that will have any job implications," he said.

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