Thames Water's creditors ask government to block legal action

Lenders seeking to take control of Thames Water are attempting to thwart environmental campaigners by asking the government to block them from pursuing claims in the high court.

- John Collingridge

Creditors owed £13bn by Britain's biggest water company want ministers to order the Environment Agency (EA) to prioritise "environmental betterment over punitive enforcement" - which they believe would "significantly mitigate" the risk of campaigners seeking judicial reviews or bringing private prosecutions.

Feargal Sharkey, the clean water campaigner and former lead singer of the Undertones, said such a move would "undermine one of the fundamental cornerstones of democracy" and urged the government to reject the demands.

This month, the Guardian revealed the lenders had made a series of requests for leniency from fines and enforcement by the EA, the water watchdog, Ofwat, and other regulators as part of their pitch to buy and turn around the struggling company.

Documents seen by the Guardian contain a clause aimed at the neutering of campaigners' ability to seek a judicial review or civil litigation. They also suggest the government could push through emergency legislation to block legal action.