LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — Thames Water, which serves 16 million people in and around London, has received court approval for up to 3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) of emergency funding, preventing the company from falling into government administration.

Thames Water said the U.K. Court of Appeal has upheld its restructuring plan, which enables it to take on additional debt after it was challenged by campaigners. Thames Water said Monday that the appeals court upheld the ruling that sanctioned its restructuring plan and the extension of its liquidity runway,