United Utilities has taken water meter reading back in-house, with the creation of 80 staff.

It is the first time the firm has employed meter readers directly for around 20 years.

The new staff, who previously did the work as part of an out-sourced contract, joined the company on December 1 and will hit the streets from Carlisle to Crewe within days.

United Utilities' Michelle Atkinson, who has overseen the transition, said: "As well as securing jobs in the North West, the aim was to be able to respond better and faster to the different needs of customers.

“We’ve been looking at what other utility companies, particularly the energy companies, have been doing with their meter reading services and wanted to give our customers the same sort of flexibility and great service.

"Digital online services weren’t around 20 years ago, and there are lots of ways we can use those services now to give customers a much better experience.”

Rather than a one-size-fits-all, United Utilities is designing its new service to be more responsive to people’s needs.

This includes customers being able to submit their own readings online if they do not want a meter reader to visit and more flexibility over the number of readings taken. They will also be able to spot unexpectedly high water usage before it becomes a bill shock and step in earlier to offer affordably payment options if they think people might benefit.

As well as the new staff and equipment, United Utilities has also invested in new systems and trained its 700 contact centre staff in using them. Data from the North West’s 1.6 million water meters has had to be migrated and AMR equipment in hundreds of bin lorries updated.

“It’s been a huge project, involving a lot of people inside and outside United Utilities, so to get it all done on time has been a fantastic effort. I’m sure we’ll be able to move quickly and start giving our customers even better service,” added Michelle.