UNITED Utilities replied to a question asking whether its new chief executive officer will receive her bonus. 

Nicola Shaw, the CEO of the neighbouring utilities provider Yorkshire Water, announced last week that she would not accept her first bonus amid public anger towards sewage pollution in the rivers under her remit. 

The boss said she understood "the strength of feeling." 

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “Louise Beardmore was appointed CEO of United Utilities five weeks ago and she has made clear that her bonus must be linked to delivery. As a result, around one-third of her future bonus will be linked directly to improving river health and achieving other stretching environmental targets.”

When Ms Beadmore became the new CEO of the water company earlier this year, she announced that £719 million would be put into projects across the north-west to reduce sewage overflows, including at Windermere. 

In 2022, the previous United Utilities CEO Steven Mogford made £3,178,000 in total compensation from the company, according to the Economic Research Institute.