Severn Trent Plc has been named as the leading utility in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

The environmental services organisation, which includes the region's water supplier, Severn Trent Water, was only one of three British companies to come top in their sectors.

The index tracks the performance of the top 2,500 companies on the Dow Jones Global Index and rates a company's social and environmental activity alongside its economic performance.

Severn Trent Plc's group chief executive, Robert Walker, said the company "strongly" believed that environmental leadership and commercial success went hand in hand.

"The challenge is not just about contributing to sustainable development within our own operations, but working with our customers to help modern society operate in a more sustainable way," said Mr Walker.

"Environmental leadership lies at the heart of our business.

Management

"We are proud to achieve this ranking as recognition of our on-going environmental management programme."

Severn Trent was also recently awarded an AAA rating by Innovest, the US-based institutional investment research firm, making it the only water and waste company to have received such a rating.