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.

Jon Cunliffe says there will be no quick fix ahead of his root and branch review of the water sector stretching from shareholders to sewage.

Britain's Thames Water announced a temporary "hosepipe ban" on Monday, aimed at cutting water usage across large parts of southern England, following the country's driest and warmest spring in over a century.

A hosepipe ban affecting several postcode areas has been announced by Thames Water. The water firm said the measure would come into place across Swindon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire on Tuesday 22 July due to a lack of rain and increasing demand, which had stretched supplies.

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 has announced a hosepipe ban affecting 1.1mn customers across several areas in southern England in an effort to preserve water following persistent dry and warm weather.

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.

Thames Water slumped to a £1.65billion pre-tax loss last year as its enormous debt pile continued to grow and its environmental record deteriorated.