“Get your act together” – council leader demands water firms stop outages

The leader of North Lincolnshire Council has demanded urgent action from regional water providers after repeated supply failures have affected communities across the Isle of Axholme and in Winterton.

Residents and businesses in towns and villages including Crowle, Winterton and surrounding areas have experienced prolonged periods without water or with severely reduced pressure during recent incidents.

Cllr Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, has now written formally to both Yorkshire Water and Anglian Water, demanding clear answers, immediate improvements, and a fair approach to compensation for affected residents.

Cllr Waltham said: “Residents in Winterton and across the Isle of Axholme are rightly frustrated. Repeated water outages are simply unacceptable.

“This is not about a single incident or a single location. We are seeing repeated disruption across different parts of North Lincolnshire, served by different water companies, and the impact on residents and local businesses is significant.

“I have written to both providers to demand clear explanations of what has gone wrong, what immediate steps are being taken to prevent a repeat, and how residents will be properly supported and compensated.”

The council has raised concerns about the frequency and duration of water outages across Isle communities, confusion over bottled water provision and emergency support, residents being denied or delayed compensation following previous incidents together with poor and inconsistent communication during outages.

North Lincolnshire Council is calling on both companies to:

• Provide assurance that local networks are resilient and fit for purpose
• Improve emergency response and on-the-ground support during incidents
• Communicate clearly and proactively with residents
• Simplify and fairly apply compensation arrangements.

Cllr Waltham added: “Access to clean, reliable water is a basic necessity, not a luxury. Residents should not be left without answers or forced to fight for support after being without supply. Both water companies must now step up and put things right immediately.”

The council has requested urgent meetings with senior representatives from both Yorkshire Water and Anglian Water to ensure residents’ concerns are addressed and to agree concrete actions to prevent further disruption.