THE parent company of Hartlepool Water announced its order book had risen in value to almost £2bn in the first six months of the year after its infrastructure management section won more than 30 contracts.

AWG, formerly known as Anglian Water, and based in Huntingdon, said the unregulated division was performing in line with management expectations.

The division's order book now stands at £1.77bn, including new orders worth £152m won in the second quarter of the year.

Updating shareholders on its trading for the six months to June 30, the company said its debts had increased by £250m to about £3.5bn, in line with earlier expectations.

That includes the cost of a £177m special payout to shareholders announced in April - the second such return of capital to AWG shareholders in less than a year.

The company also said its ring-fenced water and waste water operation outperformed targets set by the regulator Ofwat.

The ringfenced operation - Anglian Water Services (AWS) - has five million industrial, commercial and domestic customers primarily in the east of England.

AWS is ranked fourth amongst companies in England and Wales in regulator Ofwat's overall performance assessment.