Complaints made to Southern Water have risen more than 150 per cent in two years.

The Consumer Council for Water released the figures showing complaints made to Southern Water were up 155 per cent between 2006 and 2008 – the worst rise in the country for a water and sewerage company.

Southern Water, which serves all of Kent for waste water, and parts of Medway and and Kent for fresh water, blames the rise largely on difficulties with a new £20m billing system.

Audio: Darren Bentham, Southern Water's director of customer services, says what the problem has been >>>

Southern Water said that the initial teething problems have been overcome and they are now delivering improvements, introducing new services and increasing efficiency.

Darren Bentham, director of customer services, said: “The report from CC Water is disappointing and I would like to publicly apologise to customers.

"We are now doing much better and have recorded a significant improvement in our performance since the bedding-in problems of the new billing system have been resolved."

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Dame Yve Buckland, chairman of the Consumer Council for Water, said: “It is disappointing that for the third year in a row, the rise in complaints has been heavily influenced by individual water companies introducing new billing systems that have gone wrong.

“Billing system problems take a long time to put right. It would be in the companies’ best interest to work together, learn for each other’s mistakes and replicate the systems that do work.”

Folkestone and Dover Water Services

However, it was not all bad news for Kent. Folkestone and Dover Water Services, which serves Dover, Folkestone and parts of Romney Marsh, saw complaints drop by almost 13 per cent.

Between 2007 and 2008 the firm received 142 complaints, equating to 19 complaints per 10,000 customers.