TWO companies have been ordered to pay more than £2,000 each for stealing water in Oxfordshire.

Plant and machinery hire business Priority Plant Services and paving contractor Gibbs Surfacing admitted taking the water from roadside hydrants in Banbury and Oxford.

It comes as Thames Water cracks down on water theft in the region.

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Gibbs Surfacing staff were caught taking water at the junction of Oxford Road and Cherwell Drive in Oxford, while Priority Plant Services was caught at the Hanwell Chase housing development in Banbury.

They both used illegal standpipes to connect to the supply.

Oxford Mail:

With climate change and population growth putting a strain on water resources, Thames Water has clamped down on those using water but not paying for it.

Any unauthorised use of water is known as an illegal connection and it is often stolen for equipment or construction purposes.

Oliver Newton, director of Priority Plant Services, pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Water Industry Act 1991 at Oxford Magistrates’ Court. He was fined £1,000 an ordered to pay £1,300 costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

Oxford Mail:

Gibbs Surfacing pleaded guilty to three charges under the Water Industry Act 1991 and Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 at Swindon Magistrates' Court and was fined £1,500, along with £2,000 costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

The fines are a fraction of the £450,000 Thames Water has recovered in the last three years from contractors, landowners and others who illegally took water from hydrants.

More than 200 separate offences were uncovered, with the perpetrators either asked to pay a charge or prosecuted in court.

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All of the money is reinvested back into work to provide clean and wastewater services to 15 million customers across London and the Thames Valley.

Companies and individuals who use unauthorised standpipes to illegally tap water from the network have accounted for as much as four million litres of water lost from the network since 2017, with everything stolen classed as ‘leakage’.

Claire Rumens, illegal connections manager at Thames Water, said: “We work hard around the clock to cut leakage and ask our customers to use water wisely, so it is not fair for others to take water without paying.

Oxford Mail:

“Our work to find and stop illegal connections has ramped up in recent years, helping us to uncover hundreds of offences and save millions of litres of water, but there is still more to do.

“We will always look to work with individuals and companies before going to court, but if lessons are not learnt then we have no hesitation about taking further action.”

Since 2017, there have been 23 prosecutions and more than 250 charges for unauthorised use.

Anyone found using a standpipe illegally will be given the opportunity to pay a charge, but those who fail will be prosecuted.