Thames Water set for crucial court ruling

The company – and the vast majority of lenders — insists that a government rescue will end up costing taxpayers billions, set back the timetable to fix this broken business and send both suppliers and would-be investors running for the hills.

Others, including Mr Maynard and academics like Professor Sir Dieter Helm, argue that the Thames plan mainly serves the narrow interests of its current lenders who stand to lose more of their money in an administration than they would if they can keep the show on the road – particularly since the extra money they want to lend them comes with a very hefty interest rate.

The public interest is best served, they say, by using the same mechanism employed when energy company Bulb went bust.

In that case, the cost was initially estimated by the Treasury to be £6bn but ended up costing close to zero as energy prices moved in the government’s favour.