ONE in four Britons will bear the brunt of Thames Water’s £3 billion bailout plan after the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the fat-cat-backed restructuring deal today.

Campaigners reacted furiously and urged the government to take Britain’s biggest utility firm into public ownership instead of “trying to bail out the Titanic with a thimble.”

In February, a High Court judge sanctioned a plan proposed by Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited (TWUH), the parent company of Thames Water Group, allowing the heavily indebted utility to stay afloat just weeks before it was due to run out of money.

A group of the utility giant’s secondary creditors, as well as TWUH’s parent company, Thames Water Limited (TWL), appealed against the decision at a hearing last week, as did Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard, who called for the company to be placed into special administration instead.

Andrew Thornton KC, for TWL, described the plan as “designed by senior lenders for the benefit of senior lenders.”

But Sir Julian Flaux said today that the appeals were dismissed, with reasons in writing to follow in due course.

We Own It lead campaigner Matthew Topham argued that Thames Water is “a vital public utility serving a quarter of the population,” so “the Environment Secretary should be charting a course to safer waters by putting Thames into special administration and public ownership.

“Instead, Steve Reed has just flushed nearly £1 billion of households’ cash down the drain in the form of interest payments and professional fees by supporting this terrible deal to go ahead.

“That’s nearly £1bn less to fix leaking pipes, clean up sewage or bring down bills.

“This Labour government came to power promising ‘an end to sticking-plaster politics.’ Right now, that seems like a hollow election slogan. Sixteen million Thames Water customers will not appreciate being abandoned as they drown in rising water bills.”

Thames Water chief executive Chris Weston said: “As we have previously stated, the company plan will not affect customer bills but will provide continued investment in our network to fix pipes, upgrade our sewage treatment works and maintain high-quality drinking water.

“We remain of the view that a market-led solution is in the best interest of customers, UK taxpayers and the wider economy.”

A government spokesperson said: “The company remains stable and the government is closely monitoring the situation.”