Pipeline plans to increase water

The water treatment works at Bray would be expanded under the plans

A new pipeline has been planned by a water company in Berkshire to top up a reservoir with water from the Thames.

South East Water wants to build a 11-mile (17km) pipeline from Bray near Maidenhead through Bracknell to a reservoir in the Blackwater Valley.

If the scheme gets the go-ahead, work would begin in summer and take a year, with roads dug up along the route.

South East Water told BBC News that growing customer demand had led to its need to increase water supplies.

A spokesperson for the company said extensive land and environmental surveys would need to be carried out before any work could begin.

Expansion plans

David Shore, of South East Water, said: "We need to increase the amount of water available to customers and that amount is growing all the time.

"We have additional treatment capacity available at Bray, we're going to be upgrading that, and this pipeline will allow us to take out water down into the area around Bracknell.

"So it will help to supply Camberley, Bracknell, Crowthorne and from there it will go into our regional grid where we can transport it across to support Basingstoke and South Downs right across to Petersfield."

The scheme would also involve the expansion of water treatment works at Bray to increase water capacity from 45m litres a day to 68m litres a day.