A KENT water services company received fewer complaints than most other water firms, a survey has revealed.

Almost 241,000 written complaints were made by customers to water and sewerage companies in 2006 to 2007, an increase of nearly 30 per cent compared with the previous year, the Consumer Council for Water has announced.

More than 109,000 were about billing and charges and three companies accounted for 78 per cent of these complaints, Thames Water, United Utilities and Severn Trent Water.

Folkestone and Dover Water received the third lowest number of complaints - 22 per 10,000 customers.

Yve Buckland, national chairman of the Consumer Council for Water, said: "Water customers are becoming increasingly demanding of their companies.

"They see water companies making good profits and expect service, if not improving, then at the very least delivered to a good, consistent and reliable standard. They also want complaints dealt with right first time.

"We will be pushing water companies to improve these figures and provide a much better level of customer service, comparable with the best in other service sectors."