THE coldest December since records began resulted in an increased number of leaks across Northumbrian Water’s network, but the utility firm is pressing ahead with its major investment projects.

The Durham-based business, supplier to about 4.4 million customers in the UK, said that work to fix a higher-thanaverage number of burst pipes had delayed some capital investment, but work on its renewable energy anaerobic digestion plant at Howdon, Tyneside, was on track.

Northumbrian Water welcomed an Office of Fair Trading study into the effectiveness of organic waste treatment, which is an expanding part of the company’s strategy.

The firm said leaks following last month’s thaw had minimal impact on customers and it is still aiming to hit its leakage reduction targets for the year.

However, Northumbrian Water warned that inflation is likely to push interest up on its borrowing by about £20m compared to last year, and it expects to have debts of about £2.32bn when the financial year ends on March 31. Income and operating costs are like to be about the same level as the first six months of the year.

The company expects to publish its annual results for the year to the end of March on June 1.