A Midland water boss was paid almost £2.5 million last year - a figure condemned as a "national scandal" by angry union officials.

Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield was said to have picked up a £2.45 million package in 2017 - 13 times more than the Prime Minister.

The package made Ms Garfield the the highest-paid privatised water company boss in England last year, according to the GMB.

Over the past five years, the chief executive's post earned a package worth £10.5 million in salary, bonuses, pensions and other benefits.

Ms Garfield has been in the top job at Coventry-based Severn Trent since April 2014, succeeding Tony Wray, who held the role since 2007.

Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent Water
Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent Water

The GMB said the average package in 2017 was £1.25 million - a figure six times higher than the pay and pension of the Prime Minister.

It said Ms Garfield's package was £1.19 million higher than the average for the privatised water industry in England and represented a 50 per cent increase since 2013, when Severn Trent's chief executive took home £1.63 million.

The figures came from a joint investigation into Severn Trent's company accounts by the GMB and research body Corporate Watch.

The union is launching a campaign called 'Take Back The Tap', calling for England's water industry to be brought back into public ownership.

Consumer water bills in England and Wales have increased by 40 per cent above inflation since privatisation in 1989, according to a report by the National Audit Office.

Severn Trent is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, the list of the 100 companies with the highest market capitalisation on the exchange.

It serves around 4.3 million customers, reaching eight million people.

GMB's general secretary Tim Roache said: "It is a national scandal that, over the last five years, England's hard-pressed water customers have been forced to splash out millions through their bills to go into the pockets of just nine individuals.

"Privatisation of the water industry has been a costly mistake and these eye-watering sums are further proof the water industry must be returned to public hands.

GMB general secretary Tim Roache (centre) with activists promoting the Take Back the Tap campaign at the 2018 GMB Congress in Brighton
GMB general secretary Tim Roache (centre) with activists promoting the Take Back the Tap campaign at the 2018 GMB Congress in Brighton

"GMB is urging people and politicians to 'Take Back the Tap' and make our water services work for the many and not the few.

"Water is the most natural monopoly and should be in public hands."

Severn Trent said in response: "Our priority is to perform for our customers and our performance on those measures that matter most to our customers, such as preventing sewer flooding, has been strong.

"Executive pay is based on a range of challenging performance targets and is in line with pay at companies of a similar size."