Severn Trent will pay you compensation if your water supply was cut off or disrupted

Compensation will be paid to any customers who were without water for more than 12 continuous hours, or for more than 15 hours of intermittent supply.

The plan comes after the freezing temperatures and sudden thaw caused water supply issues across Rugby and the Midlands in recent days.

A payment of £30, which is roughly the same as having a month free on the average combined water and waste bill, will be offered to all homes affected so customers do not need to do anything.

Sarah Bentley, chief customer officer, said: “We’re incredibly sorry for the disruption which was caused by a huge number of bursts that put intense pressure on our water network.

“Our teams have faced an unprecedented number of leaks since the cold weather began. While we had extra teams in place working round the clock, and have hundreds of people out and about fixing bursts, we know that some customers were without water, and I really can’t apologise enough for that.

“While some customers are seeing water coming and going, the situation is much improved so we wanted to let people know about compensation.

“So, we’ll be compensating the people and families who were without water for 12 continuous hours or for more than 15 hours of intermittent supply with a deduction from their bill, and, once again, we’re just so sorry for the inconvenience this week.”

Domestic customers who will be receiving compensation do not need to do anything and will be contacted in the coming weeks.

Residents in Residents in Dunchurch, Newbold, Brownsover and Hillmorton were affected by the huge increase in bursts caused by the sudden thaw after the Beast from the East.

Severn Trent said it has been working round the clock, and has brought in additional teams from outside the organisation to help fix leaks, ramped up production at treatment works, and used its tanker fleet to keep on vital services such as hospitals.

In addition, a bottle drop was organised for the Tesco on Leicester Road and the company hand-delivered water to vulnerable customers.

Severn Trent also said they are: "always happy to discuss compensation claims from anyone who’s been affected on a case by case basis."

We’ll also be working with business customers and their retailers who were also affected.