Bidders line up for stricken Thames Water

Thames Water has received multiple bids for the struggling business which has warned that it could run out of cash by next year.

Castle Water, a Scottish utility firm co-owned by Conservative Party treasurer Graham Edwards, is understood to have made an offer for Thames ahead of a deadline for potential investors this week.

Infrastructure investor Covalis, supported by French firm Suez, is also believed to have thrown its hat in the ring.

Thames is the UK's biggest water company and one in four people in the UK rely on the firm for their supply.

When Thames Water was privatised in 1989 it had no debt. However, over the years it borrowed heavily.

A large proportion of that was added when Macquarie, an Australian infrastructure bank, owned Thames Water, reaching more than £10bn when the company was sold in 2017.

Thames is one of the most heavily indebted of England and Wales' water companies, and interest payments on more than half of its debt rise with inflation, which has been high in recent years, adding to the firm's woes.