HELENSBURGH households will see their Scottish Water charges rise by 1.6 per cent from April.

But the utility company says the new rates – amounting to an increase of £6 for the average household – will still leave the charges among the lowest in Britain.

It means the average Scottish Water household charge in 2018/19 will be £363 – less than £1 a day, and £42 lower than the annual average charge in England.

As in previous years the company’s domestic charges are linked to a property’s council tax band.

The new combined water and sewerage charges for 2018-19 will be as follows.

Band A £291.60 (up £4.56); band B £340.20 (up £5.32); band C £388.80 (up £6.08); band D £437.40 (up £6.84); band E £534.60 (up £8.36); band F £631.80 (up £9.88); band G £729 (up £11.40); band H £874.80 (up £13.68).

Douglas Millican, Scottish Water’s chief executive, said: “We want to continue to be trusted by our customers and we remain firmly focused on meeting their expectations of us.

“We are focused in a very positive way on ensuring customer service is the best it can be whilst providing value for money, stability and certainty in charge levels.

“We are not standing still, however, and we want to deliver further improvements to drinking water quality and environmental performance while at the same time ensuring what customers pay gives real value and benefit.”