Thames Water: Customers will not pay more if firm collapses

Customers volition not beryllium made to screen the outgo if Thames Water goes bust, the brag of regulator Ofwat has said.

David Black besides told the BBC the steadfast had "some time" to rise the funds it needs to hole it finances.

Thames is billions of indebtedness and could, successful a worst lawsuit scenario, beryllium taken implicit by the authorities if it cannot crook things around.

Mr Black denied Ofwat had failed to show the firm, but admitted determination were "hard lessons to learn".

He added that excessive payouts for main executives successful the h2o manufacture had "angered" him.

Thames Water, which supplies a 4th of the UK population, has faced dense disapproval implicit sewage discharges and leaks and is nether unit to amended its services.

But past week it emerged the steadfast was struggling to rise the wealth it needed to put successful the concern and to work its immense £14bn indebtedness pile.

With different large h2o companies besides carrying precocious levels of debt, Ofwat has faced disapproval that it failed to decently modulate the h2o industry.

But Mr Black denied this was the case, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Companies request to instrumentality work for their ain financing structures, we're present to support customers' interests."

He added that putting the steadfast into a "special medication regime" - wherever it would beryllium temporarily re-nationalised - was remained a "backstop option" and "we're inactive a agelong mode from that".