A WATER company which faced a Government threat of having its licence revoked only a few years ago has been named as one of the best in the country.

Five years ago, Yorkshire Water was in crisis following a summer drought which had left thousands of people in the region without supplies and saw hosepipe bans enforced.

But the firm's remarkable turnaround was completed yesterday when it was ranked second out of the "big ten" water companies in England and Wales.

The confirmation came in league tables published by the Office of Water Services.

Kevin Whiteman, managing director of Yorkshire Water, said: "The result is down to the sheer hard work, commitment, talent and enthusiasm of colleagues across the whole business and we can all be proud of what we have achieved, particularly over the past two years.

"We retain our ambition of being the best water company in the UK, but recognise in the light of ever increasing standards that we still have much to do to improve customer service even further."

In 1996, the company at the bottom of the league table and suffered one of the most severe public condemnations in UK corporate history.

But Mr Whiteman said the quality of the region's drinking water had never been better and leakage from the firm's and customers' pipes had been slashed by more than a third.

The number of properties suffering from poor water pressure was also cut from more than 30,000 to under 200.

Top of the league was Northumbrian Water - the only company to receive the highest classification in each of the key performance areas.

Andrea Cook, of regional consumer body WaterVoice Northumbria, said: "Hartlepool Water, too, makes a very positive contribution to the performance of its parent company, Anglian Water; but we must not be complacent about the success and will continue to identify ways to improve the service that every customer receives."