Thames Water may now need a taxpayer bailout after shareholders refused to pour in £500million. Its £850,000-a-year boss Chris Weston admitted if alternative funding was not found by the end of next year, the country's biggest water supplier could face the prospect of special administration.
The firm, struggling with debts up to £15billion, was "quite a long way off" from emergency nationalisation - but Mr Weston did not rule it out.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said Thames chiefs must "carry the can" for its shortcomings and not pass on higher bills.
He said: "The leadership of Thames Water has been a disgrace. "For years now we have seen customers of Thames Water taken advantage of by successive management teams that have been taking out profits and not investing as they should have been.
"When I was Environment Secretary I called this out. They haven't changed their ways. I have zero sympathy for the leadership of Thames Water. In my own constituency, I have seen how they have behaved in a high-handed and arrogant way towards the consumers who pay their bills.
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