Water firm expands hardship fund

The firm made a profit of £478m last year

Water provider United Utilities is to increase the amount it puts into a fund for struggling customers by £2m a year.

The Warrington-based group manages water and waste water distribution in the north-west of England.

It will now donate a total of £5m a year to its charity, which helps those with serious financial problems. The extra cash will come from group profit.

Since starting in 2003 the fund has received £15m, and is expanding because of "the current economic climate".

United Utilities was created from the merger of North West Water and Norweb in November 1995.

In the year to March 2008 it made a profit of £478.3m from continuing operations.