Story by Eli Haidari.

Twickenham and Teddington MP Munira Wilson is backing the Liberal Democrats' calls for the Government to ban bonuses for water company executives and the declaring of a national drought emergency.

Water companies have paid their company executives eye-watering bonuses, despite failing to fix leaked pipes ahead of this summer's drought.

Bosses from Thames Water were awarded £2,368,000 in bonuses even though the company loses up to a quarter of all their water from leaks alone.

Addressing the bonuses, Wilson said: "It is simply outrageous that water companies are rewarding themselves with these extravagant bonuses despite not even bothering to fix leaks. These are the very same water companies that pollute our local rivers with harmful sewage.

"It's high time someone stood up to these companies and demand action. They should start with fixing these leaks, and then ending the sewage pumping into waterways once and for all."

Despite reports a staggering 2.4 billion litres of water is leaked every day; England's water companies have awarded themselves almost £27 million in bonuses over the past two years and have only pledged to halve leaks by 2020, even though the severity of summer droughts are expected to rise as record temperatures continue to be broken.

The Lib Dems have also called on the Government to declare a National Drought Emergency which would give Downing Street the power to move resources where they are most needed.

Wilson added: "With the UK suffering its driest summer in almost 50 years, it is time to declare a national drought emergency. A failure to act now will see rivers dry up, farmers unable to water their crops, and millions of people facing unnecessary restrictions."