AN INVESTIGATION into the standard of Southern Water’s customer services has led to six members of staff being asked to go on paid leave.

Problems relating to the reporting and handling of customer complaints and inquiries led to the company contacting regulator Ofwat and the Serious Fraud Office.

In October a team of independent investigators were called in.

The probe was launched when it was noticed that figures reported to Ofwat regarding response times for written billing inquiries and service complaints, did not match performance.