WATER customers in North Yorkshire could be forced to pay an extra £7 a year because of extra costs incurred by Yorkshire Water.

Work to reduce the number of properties subject to sewer flooding and protecting customers from the potentially harmful parasite cryptosporidium, have forced the company to rethink its pricing.

Yorkshire Water's price limits are to be the subject of an interim

review by industry regulator Ofwat. This review will take place under routine procedures designed to cover situations where water companies

encounter costs above a certain threshold, unforeseen at the last formal price review.

Already under this determination, six water companies have been the subject of Ofwat price reviews. Other contributing factors for Yorkshire Water include the increase in customer debt following the government's decision to ban disconnection, growing construction industry costs and additional investment which will be needed to meet the EU's new Waste Incineration Directive.

As a result of this review, customer prices could rise by a maximum of £7 per year with effect from April 1 next year.

Following the last price

review, in 1999, the average customer bill in Yorkshire fell by

approximately £37 per year.

The average water and sewerage bill in Yorkshire currently stands at £216 per year which rates as the fourth lowest in the UK.

Updated: 14:20 Wednesday, October 02, 2002