Thames Water refuses to claw back bonuses paid using £3bn emergency loan

Ministers had hoped to use new legislation to block bonuses paid from the loan that was meant to be used to keep Thames Water afloat. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Thames Water paid almost £2.5m to senior managers from an emergency loan that was meant to be used to keep the failing utilities company afloat – and has refused to claw back the payments, newly released documents reveal.

The struggling water supplier paid bonuses totalling £2.46m to 21 managers on 30 April.