HARD-PRESSED water customers in Devon face yet a further rise in their already high bills.

The threatened increase of up to £14 a year comes as the Government moved to push ahead with transferring responsibility more than 124,000 miles of private sewers and drains to water and sewerage companies, together with the maintenance and repair costs.

South West Water has expressed concern about the impact on charges, but points out the move does have benefits. The increase is a blow to efforts to tackle the hardship caused by soaring water bills in the area.

Devon householders have significantly higher charges than anywhere else in the country — an average £490 compared to £343.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is consulting on draft regulations to transfer private sewers and lateral drains — the part of the pipe which extends beyond the property boundary - to water and sewerage companies from October 2011. It follows earlier consultation.

Up to 50 per cent of homes are connected to private sewers, and householders are often unaware of this or that they are responsible for their maintenance and repair.

Among the benefits include clearer lines of responsibility for maintenance, lifting the burden on private sewer owners to meet repair bills, and the firms able to manage the network more efficiently.

Ofwat has estimated that this will lead to bill increases of between £3 to £14 a year.