Investors in Thames, a poster child for the failures of privatisation in Britain, have refused to stump up 500 million pounds ($630 million) they had promised due to a row over how much it can charge customers and how much it should invest in the business.

Thames Water Chief Executive Chris Weston said on Thursday that the company was not about to collapse, but if later next year it had not received equity, then there was the prospect of it falling into a "specialist administration".

"We are a long way from that point at the moment," he told BBC Radio. "I think it's premature to go there at the moment."

Stating that the company has 2.4 billion pounds of liquidity, he added: "We remain in a solid financial position."

Thames Water is under pressure to service its 15 billion pounds of debt, keep customer bills at an acceptable level and invest to tackle a growing number of sewage spills in rivers and seas that have sparked acute anger in Britain.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt said the government was monitoring the situation "very carefully". Last year the government said it was ready for temporary state ownership given the precarious state of Thames' finances.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

For the company's 16 million customers, Thames Water said it was "business as usual" on Thursday.

Regulator Ofwat and Thames Water have been locked in discussions over how much the company will be able to charge customers in the coming years, Thames Water said in its statement, with the group wanting to hike bills.

It said the discussions with Ofwat and other stakeholders were ongoing.

"Thames Water intends to pursue all options to secure the required equity investment from new or existing shareholders," the group said.

The company's shareholders include Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the UK's Universities Superannuation Scheme and a unit of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

They said in a statement that Ofwat had declined to provide the necessary regulatory support and they were therefore not in a position to provide further funding.

They had agreed to invest 750 million pounds last July, with 500 million pounds expected by the end of this month. Thames Water said at that time it would need further equity of around 2.5 billion pounds between 2025-2030.

Ofwat said safeguards were in place to keep Thames Water operating whatever the shareholder issues.

"The company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers," the regulator said.

($1 = 0.7937 pounds)