THAMES Water has cut the leakage from its pipes by more than a sixth in the last year, according to its latest results.

The company's network of pipes now loses about 695 million litres of water per day, compared to 815 million litres a year ago. The company had set itself a target of 755 million litres per day for the end of this financial year.

Thames Water is set to make a pre-tax profit of nearly £200 million, and says it has driven its operating costs down by nearly ten per cent by improving its efficiency.

The company's chief executive David Owens said: "The legacy of high operating costs and inefficient working practices has now been put behind us, and the past nine months have seen the company make huge strides to address the issues which really matter to our customers and stakeholders: tackling leakage, improving customer service and providing consistently excellent water quality."

Since April this year 266km of new water mains have been laid, ahead of Thames Water's target of 362km by the end of this financial year.