A new report out yesterday has revealed that customer complaints to Anglia Water have increased by over 7pc in the last year.

The latest figures from the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) showed that although the overall figure for England and Wales is down, Anglia Water's customer complaints are up by 7.6pc - from 18,086 in 2009/10 to 19,458 2010/11.

Figures from the 2010/11 report on Complaint Handling in the Water Industry in England and Wales show that overall industry complaints reduced by 4.5pc year-on-year, representing a the third year of the downward trend.

Chairman of the Consumer Council for Water, Dame Yve Buckland, said: 'It is good news for many customers that complaint levels are down and overall results look promising. We will continue to exert pressure on those companies who are underperforming until they match the best. CCWater is there to help water customers who have hit a brick wall with their complaint. In four out of five cases we step in to get the company to improve what is has done for the consumer.'

United Utilities was the worst performing water and sewerage company handling 39,000 complaints, coupled with an increase of 6.7pc on the previous year.

The consumer watchdog has helped customers secure over �12m in compensation and rebates from water companies and taken over 86,000 complaints.

- To view the full report please visit www.ccwater.org.uk