14 July 2025, 10:58

By EJ Ward

There’s a new river in Clapham. It wasn’t there yesterday. And it certainly wasn’t on any map. But thanks to another burst pipe and yet more emergency works from Thames Water, it’s now an unplanned water feature causing sinkholes and traffic chaos.

You’d think after the fifth or sixth time digging up the same stretch of tarmac, they’d fix it properly. But no — like clockwork, they’re back again, cones out, road shut, pressure low, traffic jammed.

My journey to work today was delayed and diverted, just like it was last week, and the week before that.

We joke about it, moan in the group chat, shake our heads at the latest diversion. But this isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s symptomatic of a company in total disarray.

Behind the orange barriers and leaking mains is a story of financial mismanagement and corporate failure on a truly eye-watering scale.

Thames Water is staggering under more than £15 billion of debt. Its shareholders — led by private........

© LBC