Sky-high bills were among the public’s biggest concerns with Britain’s privatised water industry, a consumer watchdog revealed in its annual report yesterday.

Written complaints to the cartel of industry privateers hit 123,218 in the year to March, down on the previous 12 months but still 300 a day, according to research by the soft-edged Consumer Council for Water (CWW).

But the council highlighted the cost of bills as one of the biggest concerns, with 20 per cent of water users branding prices “unaffordable.”

CCW chief executive Tony Smith pleaded with feeble regulator Ofwat to tackle the issue at its five-year review on December 12 and warned of a “backlash.”

However, he failed to call for any changes to the monopoly industry, which since privatisation in 1989 has skimmed billions in profits from the general public.

Campaign for Public Ownership spokesman Neil Clark branded the current model “fundamentally flawed.”

“We’re always going to pay more for water if it’s privately owned, because companies want profits,” he said.