Thames Water is asking the competition regulator to allow it to charge customers even more over the coming years than had previously been granted. The company has already been allowed a 35 per cent rise in consumer bills over the next five years by water regulator Ofwat,

British water regulator Ofwat said it would investigate Thames Water over delays to hundreds of environmental improvements to determine whether the struggling utility had breached its obligations which could result in fines.

Thames Water is under investigation by water regulator Ofwat over whether the delayed delivery of environmental protection schemes means the company has breached its obligations.

Thames Water is under investigation by Ofwat after the company admitted it will not complete more than 100 environmental schemes funded by customers. The regulator will look into whether delays to the plans mean England's largest water firm has breached its licence.

Struggling British utility Thames Water launched an appeal with the country's competition regulator on Friday, kicking off a process to try to lift the prices it can charge customers for the next five years and improve its chances of survival.