BOSSES of England’s nine private water companies have pocketed £175 million in pay and benefits in the last five years, general union GMB disclosed today.

GMB, which has thousands of members working in the water industry, revealed the pay packages as part of its “Take Back the Tap” campaign, calling for the water industry to be returned to public ownership.

Since water privatisation in 1989, customers’ bills have increased by 40 per cent in real terms.

The union says the industry’s top 54 executives pocketed an enormous £40.3 million in 2017 alone.

Executive directors and senior management received an average of £746,296 each in salaries, pension contributions, bonuses and benefits.

GMB is working with Corporate Watch, a not-for-profit co-operative that investigates the activities of business corporations and their effects on people. It was founded in 1996 after the Tories had privatised vital industries including water, gas, electricity and transport.

GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: “This shows what many of us already knew. The top tier of private water is a money-making machine for a privileged few.

“Water bills have gone up 40 per cent in real terms since the industry was privatised. Now we know where that cash is going — the pockets of bosses.

“We all need water, it’s not an optional extra, it’s absurd that something we all depend on is in private, profit-making hands instead of being run for the public good.

“That’s why GMB is calling for the water industry to be brought back into public ownership.”