Thames Water has issued a statement addressing the rumours of its collapse. 

Shortly after announcing the resignation of its CEO Sarah Bentley, the utility company that serves the south west, including providing waste water services to Basingstoke, was rumoured to be nearing collapse under debts of £14billion.

The government was evens said to be preparing plans for the emergency nationalisation of the company. 

But a statement on the water provider's website attempts to reassure members of the public, and shareholders, that things might not be quite as drastic as reported and, in fact, it was on the verge of "turning things around".

It said: "You may have seen some recent press speculation about Thames Water following our CEO’s resignation.

"We can confirm that Thames Water continues to operate as normal and we are committed to our turnaround plan.

"From a financial point of view, we have a strong liquidity position including £4.4 billion of cash and committed funding, as of 31 March 2023.

"We also received £500 million of new funding from our shareholders in March 2023 and continue to work constructively with them on the funding of the next phases of our turnaround plan.

"Our regulator, Ofwat, is being kept fully informed on progress of the company's turnaround and engagement with shareholders.

"Thames Water remains focused on delivering for our customers, the environment and stakeholders."

The company, which supplies households in Swindon and North Wiltshire was recently fined £3.3million for pollution.