UNITED Utilities has trained a sniffer dog to help find problem pipes in rural areas of Lancashire.

The training is part of more than £817million of investment into the pipes, reservoirs and treatment works which deliver water to seven million people in the North West.

Snipe, the dog, is the first dog to be used by a water company to help pinpoint problems in pipes which do not always show up on the surface.

Its annual results report revealed it has met leakage targets for 10 consecutive years and has cut leakage in half since the 1990s.

Steve Mogford, UU's chief executive officer, said: "We continue to put customers first.

"Our approach to vulnerability and affordability is setting new benchmarks for the industry and our sustained improvements in customer satisfaction positions us as a leader in the sector.

"We are using advanced technology from around the world and across different sectors.

"This is contributing to outperformance in the current regulatory period which we are sharing with customers and gives us confidence heading into the next regulatory period and beyond.

"While our industry faces many challenges, we intend to rise to all of them, building on the trust our customers place on us to provide an outstanding service, invest wisely to deliver additional benefits and offer exceptional value for money. "This philosophy is central to our strategy and will help deliver long term value for customers, the environment and for shareholders."