Thames Water asks watchdog to let it charge even higher bills - It said steeper increases than the 35% already granted over the next five years is ‘in the interests of our customers and the environment’.

Thames Water is under investigation by Ofwat after the company admitted it will not complete more than 100 environmental schemes funded by customers. The regulator will look into whether delays to the plans mean England's largest water firm has breached its licence.

British water regulator Ofwat said it would investigate Thames Water over delays to hundreds of environmental improvements to determine whether the struggling utility had breached its obligations which could result in fines.

Thames Water is under investigation by water regulator Ofwat over whether the delayed delivery of environmental protection schemes means the company has breached its obligations.