Water firm Severn Trent has vowed to have more staff on hand this winter following a surge in complaints last year after the Arctic snap burst pipes.

Severn, which supplies eight million customers across the Midlands and the heart of England, pledged to improve customer service levels after complaints rose 16% in 2010/2011.

The company said its increased spend on preventing leaks had offset average price hikes of 4.7% and triggered a slight 1% decline in underlying profits to £274.3 million in the six months to September 30.

Chief executive Tony Wray said: “We remain focused on improving services from our networks. We have increased our network replacement activity underpinning our plans to improve network serviceability, supply availability and unplanned interruptions.

“We are maintaining our leakage activity levels following the severity of the last three winters.”

Meanwhile, the company, which previously warned of near-drought conditions the spring, said it does not expect any restrictions because of “careful” management of its resources and more rain in recent months.