A WATER firm criticised in the past for its record on leaks has landed a contract in Northern Ireland - giving advice on reducing leakage.

Five years ago Yorkshire Water came under fire from customers who suffered repeated disruptions to their supplies due to leaks.

Today, the company has reduced those leaks by more than 40 per cent, and has been appointed by its equivalent in Northern Ireland in its bid to achieve the same results.

A small team of water leakage experts will conduct a full review of the Northern Ireland Water Service's existing leakage management practices and procedures.

Charles Firlotte, Yorkshire Water's director of water business said: "This is a significant win for us on a number of fronts. Not only did we beat a number of other formidable competitors, our proposal was selected on the strength of its quality, performance and price.

"And what makes the victory even sweeter is that it demonstrates our ability to transform our leakage expertise, from a position of weakness to one of core competency today.

"It speaks volumes of our ability and potential to transform other areas in best in class."

For the last two years the company has been working closely with the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) to research how technology developed from the Royal Navy to track enemy submarines can be used to detect leaks.