Yorkshire Water has scrapped plans for an inflation-busting hike in household bills.

In a boost for every household in Huddersfield, the company said it would not proceed with the planned 2014-15 price increase agreed with regulator Ofwat in 2009.

It means that next year the average household bill in Yorkshire will by £373 – in line with the current rate of inflation and £6 lower than originally planned.

On Monday, the firm will also share its plans to keep price rises in 2015-20 in line with inflation.

Chief executive Richard Flint said: “Yorkshire Water bills are already lower than the national average, but we are committed to doing even more to help our customers.

Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water

“The overwhelming message is that they don’t want to see any deterioration in service, but that they want us to keep bills as low as possible.

“We understand the pressures on households and that’s why we’re planning to keep bills in line with inflation for the next six years.

“This is a challenging plan that we are confident we’ll deliver through prudent financial management, sharing company efficiencies with customers and by reducing our returns to investors.”

Andrea Cook, of the Consumer Council, which champions the cause of customers, welcomed the decision.

She said: “Customers on low and fixed incomes struggle to keep up even with small bill increases and this will be of particular benefit to them.

“The decision reinforces that the benefits of improved performance can be shared by shareholders and customers alike.”

Water firms have to submit plans to Ofwat for approval detailing exactly where service and operational investments will be made over the five years from 2015 as well as what customers will be asked to pay.

The investment will include improvements to a 54km stretch of the River Aire to benefit fish and wildlife and work to restore 75 hectares of natural woodland on Yorkshire Water-owned land.

River water quality in Leeds and Halifax will be further improved as £31m is planned to be invested in reducing the impact of storm water discharges into rivers.

Yorkshire Water will invest �14m in storm tanks to help reduce the risk of flooding from sewers at times of heavy rainfall and £32m at key sewage treatment works to improve the quality of water courses in the Calder and Aire valleys.