Thames Water campaigners react to firm's turmoil

Thames Water, the UK's largest water company, is in talks to secure extra funding as it struggles to pay its debts. On Tuesday, chief executive Sarah Bentley quit the business after just two years in the job. The firm has come in for strong criticism following a series of sewage discharges and leaks. Thames Water has previously said it is trying to raise the cash it needs to improve.

So what are the thoughts of water users and campaigners?

The Henley Mermaids swimming group are long-standing campaigners against sewage pollution.

Group member Jo Robb, who is also a Green Party councillor, said the river had been "treated like an open sewer".

"Sarah Bentley received a £3.1m golden hello when she joined Thames Water and this year, after making a big song and dance about not taking a bonus, was paid £1.5m.

"The River Evenlode, a tributary of the Thames, is teetering on the brink of death thanks to Thames Water's sewage dumping.

"Whoever takes over will be paid a fortune while it's us billpayers who will be expected to fund upgrades to Thames Water's infrastructure.

"We'll be the ones swimming in rivers flowing with sewage and living with hosepipe bans while Thames loses a third of its water to its own leaks.

"The whole system needs to change. We need to take back control of our water."

Peter Devery, from Tidmarsh Fly Fishing Syndicate on the River Pang in Berkshire, said the turmoil was the result of privatisation.

"With the resignation of the CEO and reports the chairman is to be replaced, it's clear Thames Water is going down the plug.

"This is a result of the failed neoliberal experiment to make money from water.

"The public have been cheated and defrauded for decades by profiteering water companies.

"Ofwat [the water regulator] need to urgently recover misappropriated funds to pay for river restoration and new sewage infrastructure.

"Not a penny of public money should be used to bail water companies out of their debt-laden and unsustainable businesses."

Oxfordshire campaigner Ashley Smith, from the group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, said Sarah Bentley had failed to make improvements.

He said: "That's another CEO who bites the dust having joined Thames Water which was breaking the law on an epic scale and left Thames Water breaking the law on an epic scale.

"Nothing changed. She took a massive bonus and the government just stands by and lets chief executives come in and out [and] milk the bill payer.

"The government has to bring an end to this privatised scam. It hasn't worked for 30 years.

"We're talking about public ownership or mutualisation that takes away the financial incentives to scam the bill payer."

Thames Water has been asked to comment on the experiences of water users and campaigners who spoke to the BBC.

It previously said it was keeping water regulator Ofwat informed on progress, and that it still had "strong" cash and borrowing reserves to draw on.

The water firm is in talks to secure extra funding as the government says it is ready to act in a worst case scenario if the company collapses.

Asked about Thames Water in Parliament, environment minister Rebecca Pow said it was not her place to comment on the financial position of a company, but said water firms were "considered resilient".

Other water firms are facing similar pressures due to higher interest payments on their debts and rising costs including higher energy and chemical prices.

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