LOCAL water consumers who have difficulty in paying their bills are to be given a helping hand.

United Utilities plans to create an independent charitable trust, to which the company intends to donate about £15 million over the next five years. It will help customers struggling to pay their bills by clearing water arrears and other debts.

At the same time, Ofwat has published its draft determination of United Utilities' price limits. This envisages that bills would rise by 3.5 per cent on average each year between 2005 and 2010 to support an investment programme of £2.4 billion.

Commenting on the charitable trust move, chief executive John Roberts said it should be up and running early next year.

"It will help customers by clearing outstanding water arrears and other bills. In addition, it will also support advice on financial matters and financial literacy work in our region."

United Utilities now has in place a more sophisticated system to track down non-paying customers who appear to have the means to pay their bills.

More than 2,000 court summons have been issued in the past week as the company seeks to pursue customers who have consistently defaulted on payments.