THE average monthly water bills for Yorkshire Water customers will increase by about £5 per year from April.

The company is increasing its water and sewerage bills in line with inflation by just over one per cent.

Richard Flint, Chief Executive at Yorkshire Water, said: "It is of paramount importance for us to keep our customers’ bills fair and affordable and that’s why we are the second cheapest water firm in the UK.

"The slight increase this year has been agreed with Ofwat and is largely due to inflation and the simple fact that the price of many of the products and services we use as a company has risen."

In North Yorkshire, Yorkshire Water will invest £4.8m in water treatment works, and £14m will be spent on storm tanks to upgrade the sewer network and help prevent flooding in future.