Wessex Water has given its chief executive, Ruth Jefferson, an above-inflation pay rise even though the company has been banned from paying bonuses following sewage spills. The disclosure comes amid intense public and political scrutiny of water company executive pay, as sewage pollution in rivers and seas continues to provoke outrage, and it raises fresh questions about whether firms are circumventing government efforts to curb rewards for poor environmental performance.

Jefferson's base salary rose 14% in October, from £590,000 to £670,000, far outstripping the 3.5% rise given to ordinary staff, and leaving her earning 18 times the median employee's pay. Including pension and other benefits, her total package reached £791,000. Wessex, which serves 2.9 million customers across south-west England and is ultimately owned via a Jersey-incorporated Malaysian family holding company, said it expected to be barred from bonus payments due to its environmental and operational performance. Separately, Anglian Water paid its chief executive a £500,000 "retention payment" despite its own bonus ban, prompting the GMB union to accuse water bosses of "feathering their own nests" while urging ministers and regulators to close such loopholes.