Thames Water is "extremely stressed" and will take "at least a decade to turn around", its boss has said, as the struggling company posted huge annual losses. Thames reported a loss of £1.65bn for the year to March, while its debt pile climbed to £16.8bn.

Results revealed losses at Britain's biggest water company rocketed last year - as bosses were given another grilling by MPs

The company argues it will need external help to secure a successful future after reporting a massive annual loss and rising debts.

Thames Water is still “in crisis mode” and will take “at least a decade” to turn around, the company has warned as it revealed ballooning debts. The UK’s largest water supplier also revealed a sharp increase in pollution incidents over the past year, as the firm’s creditors push ahead with efforts to take ownership of the business.

Britain’s largest water operator, which counts two Canadian pension funds as shareholders, may be nationalized if it can’t find investors to plug its massive debt hole

The annual accounts for the year to end March, arguably the toughest in Thames’s history as a privatised utility, show that Thames Water has slumped to a £1.65 billion annual loss and saw its debt mountain balloon to £16.79 billion.

A major water pipe that has burst has caused "significant flooding" in south-east London. Southwark Council said it was working with Thames Water and the Metropolitan Police at the scene on Ilderton Road, Bermondsey. A council spokesperson said they had set up a rest centre and were helping people who had to leave their homes due to flooding.

Thames Water have been called out in Swindon to fix a major leak along a main road, causing delays for drivers.