South East Water chief executive to forgo his bonus over ‘unacceptable outages’

David Hinton will receive only his £400,000 salary this year after thousands of customers were left without water

The chief executive of South East Water has said he will forgo his bonus in an act of penitence for “unacceptable outages” that left thousands of customers in Kent and Sussex without water.

David Hinton told MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs select committee that he had decided not to accept an additional “performance payment” this year. Instead, he will receive only his £400,000 salary.