Thames Water accused of ‘misleading’ customers over level of debt payments

Thames Water spent the equivalent of 27.8% of revenue on servicing its £14.7bn debt pile on average over the past five years, the Guardian analysis found. Photograph: Dinendra Haria/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

Thames Water has been accused of “misleading” customers after telling them that just a few pennies in every pound spent on their bills is paid to its lenders.

The debt-laded firm is Britain’s biggest water company, serving 16 million customers in London and the south-east of England. It has sent a breakdown of its costs in bills to customers, including spending 48p of every pound on infrastructure, 20p on the supply and treatment of water, and 3p to its lenders.