Southern Water has a new managing director. Board member Stuart Derwent has been appointed to the post.

He is taking over from Ronnie Mercer who has been promoted to become a group director with Southern Water's parent company, Scottish Power.

Mr Derwent joined the Sussex River Authority in 1972, two years before it became part of the new Southern Water Authority. Following privatisation, he was appointed Hampshire director in 1992 and joined the board of the company in 1996.

Most recently, he was the company's operation director, responsible for water supply and wastewater treatment services throughout Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

He said: "The organisation has come a very long way since I first joined. Our record on levels of customer service and success in meeting environmental quality controls is now among the best in Europe, backed by our £1billion capital investment programmes.

"I will strive to deliver further improvements in those areas for our four million customers."

Mr Mercer's promotion comes after three years with Southern Water. He will continue to work with the company as chairman, taking over from Ian Russell who has been appointed chief executive of ScottishPower following the retirement of Sir Ian Robinson.