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Thames Water ‘rewarded for years of mismanagement’ with £3bn emergency loan
Customers will bear brunt of sky-high interest rates though increased bills, campaigners warn
A tanker pumps out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire, January 10 ,2024

THAMES WATER’S £3 billion bailout was approved by the High Court today, triggering outrage as campaigners warned of higher bills from sky-high interest payments.

The High Court cleared the loan just weeks before the debt-laden firm was due to run out of money, temporarily staving off the possibility of special administration and temporary nationalisation.

Former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher wrote off the debts of Britain’s water firms when the industry was privatised in 1989.

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