was halted by as she delivered some breaking news.
Wednesday’s instalment of the programme was hosted by and , who shared the latest headlines with viewers across the UK.
Charlotte, 49, joined the duo in the studio to share the rest of the day’s top stories. Halfway through her report, Charlotte brought things to an abrupt pause as she shared a breaking news announcement.
The presenter revealed that industry regulator Ofwat is investigating Thames Water over late delivery of environmental improvement schemes.
Ofwat will investigate whether the company has failed to deliver environmental improvement schemes over the last five years. Thames Water had promised 812 schemes but admitted that 100 were unlikely to be in place by March this year.
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Charlotte Hawkins shared some breaking news with viewers (Image: ITV)
The schemes were aimed at making improvements to water companies’ environmental impact, such as through upgrades to sewage treatment works and reducing wastewater spillages.
The schemes fall under the Water Industry National Environmental Programme (WINEP) during the current 2020-2025 pricing period.
That concludes at the end of March when Thames customers then face an increase to their water bills over the next five years from April to pay for further infrastructure improvements.
Ofwat will publish details of its findings once the case has been fully investigated.
Lynn Parker, Ofwat’s senior director for enforcement, said: “Customers have paid for Thames Water to carry out these essential environmental schemes.
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Charlotte announced that industry regulator Ofwat is investigating Thames Water (Image: ITV)
“We take any indication that water companies are not meeting their legal obligations very seriously. Therefore, we have launched an investigation to understand whether the delayed delivery of environmental schemes means that Thames Water has breached its obligations.
“If we find reason to act, we will use our full range of powers to hold Thames to account for any failures and will require them to put things right.”
Thames is currently the only firm regulated by Ofwat to be facing a probe into its environmental protection programmes.
The parent company of the embattled utilities firm, which is set to run out of money by late March, risks entering special administration if it does not get court approval for a restructuring plan.