Bills could go down for 5m Yorkshire Water customers after it faced penalties totalling £15.2m for not meeting targets, including on internal sewer flooding.

Yorkshire Water says no decision has been made yet on the amount.

In a statement the company said: “The water industry is rightly held to very high standards by its regulator, Ofwat.

"Despite making improvements in a number of areas, we didn’t meet all of our performance commitments last year and have received a penalty from Ofwat.

A generic view of a household water tap as bills for customers of Yorkshire Water are set to be reducedCredit: Rui Vieira/PA Wire

"We will return that money to our customers by factoring it in to next year’s water charges.

"Charges for 23/24 have not yet been determined, and are influenced by a number of different factors, including inflation and our performance.”

According to its latest annual report Yorkshire Water was handed a £10.1m penalty for failing to meet the target on internal sewer flooding, where sewage or foul water floods up through toilets, sinks or showers inside a building. It also faced a £2.48m penalty for “pollution incidents” and £5.54m for water supply interruptions.

However it was given a £17.63m reward for reducing external sewer flooding.

Eleven of 17 water companies will have to pay penalties. Thames Water and Southern Water performed the worst and will have to return almost £80m.

Ofwat’s chief executive David Black said: "When it comes to delivering for their customers, too many water companies are falling short, and we are requiring them to return around £150m to their customers.

"We expect companies to improve their performance every year; where they fail to do so, we will hold them to account.

"All water companies need to earn back the trust of customers and the public and we will continue to challenge the sector to improve."

£15m to come off Yorkshire Water bills after firm hit by penalties for missed targets