The water company at the heart of a parasite outbreak in Devon has sparked outrage after announcing an increased payout to shareholders.
South West Water-owner Pennon Group told investors on Tuesday that it would increase its dividend by 3.8pc to £126.9m.
The payout comes despite pollution incidents in Devon and Cornwall, which caused dozens of suspected cases of sickness and diarrhoea and left two people in hospital.
The outbreak came a little over a year after the business was given a record £2.2m fine for separate incidents of illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea. An investigation by the Environment Agency found South West Water culpable for significant environmental harm.
The dividend increase prompted condemnation from a source close to Environment Secretary Steve Barclay.
A Government source said: “It is completely unacceptable for this company to be paying a dividend to shareholders given its appalling record, including millions of pounds in fines last year for pollution offences and poor performance.
“Today’s announcement of a £127m payout only adds to the concerns about the way this company is managed. Steve Barclay is clear there is simply no justification for profit from pollution.”
Pennon bosses argued that the dividend increase was £2.4m lower than it otherwise would have been following last year’s fine from the Environment Agency.
The company said: “We are listening, clearing the way for long-term shareholder value”.
The payout to shareholders came as Pennon also disclosed it would pay £3.5m in compensation between thousands of households whose water supplies were affected by the outbreak.
It said it has offered £215 to all customers forced to boil their drinking water over the outbreak.
Around 16,000 households and businesses in Brixham were initially told not to use their tap water for drinking without boiling and cooling it first, according to the Government.
Chief executive Susan Davy said: “Whilst the results we are announcing today are based on our performance for the last financial year, we are a hundred per cent focused on returning a safe water supply to the people and businesses in and around Brixham.”