Water companies will bring renationalisation upon themselves unless they stop their “excuse-mongering” and clean up their act, the Environment Secretary has warned.

Michael Gove has accused the sector of exploiting their “natural monopoly” in order to benefit their shareholders while customers are forced to bear the brunt of leaks and increasingly higher prices.

Singling out chief executives at some of the country’s largest companies, Mr Gove attacked them for the “dizzying complexity” of their tax affairs and for continuing to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens.

Speaking at the Water UK City Conference on Thursday, Mr Gove warned that whilst he strongly opposed bringing the industry back under state ownership, the public’s appetite for change was “significant and growing”.

He added that despite being “handsomely” paid for their services, water companies continued to play the system by increasing their debt levels and dividends whilst unfairly hiking prices for customers.