Britain’s biggest water supplier must not “hit consumers” to prop up its finances and avoid nationalisation, the government has said after the company asked to increase bills by 40 per cent.
Thames Water wants to raise bills from an average of £436 to £609 a year by the end of the decade and be spared fines for polluting, after investors refused to put in an extra £500 million.
The company is now at the centre of a battle over who pays for upgrades to the system that covers 15 million households. Investors refused to put in more money unless bills rose dramatically.
Michael Gove, the communities secretary, called Thames Water’s leadership “a disgrace”. He said: “For years we have seen customers of Thames Water taken
