Thames Water has been accused of trying to do things "on the cheap" after plans to transfer water from Powys to a reservoir in London were revealed.

In March is was revealed that water from Lake Vyrnwy could be transported to the capital and other parts of south eastern England to meet future demand.

And while Thames Water has said the plans do not involve extracting any extra water from Powys, local Plaid Cymru politicians met to discuss the plans, and were critical of the proposals.

Powys County Councillors Elwyn Vaughan and Bryn Davies and MP Liz Saville Roberts were among those at a meeting on June 30 at The Old New Inn.

Cllr Vaughan accused Thames Water of “trying to take water from Powys on the cheap rather than mend its own leaks”.

He added: “Privatisation of the industry paved the way for foreign investors to seize control of companies, extracting billions in dividends and piling up debts yet leave us as taxpayers to foot the bill and the liabilities. 

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“Water is a fundamental resource and should not be privatised for multinational corporations and banks to plunder whilst leaving us to pay their bills.

“It’s our resource, our asset and we as the public should benefit from it.”

The proposal was part of a potential collaboration between United Utilities, Severn Trent Water and Thames Water, and is in the early stages of development.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “It is estimated that by 2050 there’ll be another 12 million people living in the UK, and with the added pressures of climate change and new environmental targets, we need to make sure there’s enough water for everyone.

“As required by legislation, water companies are looking at lots of different ways to make sure we can do this, including working in partnership on schemes called Strategic Resource Options.   

“One option is the Severn to Thames Transfer, which explores redistributing the water currently taken from Lake Vyrnwy. No additional water will be taken from Wales.

“All of these proposed schemes are still in the very early stages of investigation, none are currently certain to go ahead and if they do, it could be decades before they are needed. But we have a duty to look at and investigate all options for ensuring we can provide the drinking water necessary for all of our customers in the future.”