A wastewater treatment site will undergo improvements to enhance water quality.

At East Boldre, sand filters have been installed for extra treatment, while Handcross has new pressurised multimedia tanks and ferric dosing.

The upgrades, costing £3.7 million, are part of Southern Water's £3 billion environmental improvement plan.

Lee Hooper project manager for Southern Water, said: "We’re pleased that we have got these projects finished in time for the New Year, all of the schemes will help our ongoing work to improve water quality, we’re looking forward to 2025 where we will look at further upgrades to sites across our region."

Lee McGrattan, project manager for GTb, the contract carrying out the work, said: "We’re delighted that these projects are now finished. We’re sorry for any disruption these works have caused but we’re looking forward to the benefits they will bring."

Previously, Southern Water faced criticism after a shutdown at its Testwood site in Totton disrupted water supply to around 58,000 homes, causing chaos at bottled water stations.