The company which supplies water to hundreds of thousands of customers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is up for sale, it is reported today.

Southern Water, is up for sale for as much as £4 billion.

The company was bought by the private equity arm of Royal Bank of Scotland four years ago.

But now the firm is reported to have appointed Deutsche Bank to mastermind its sale.

Southern Water employs more than 2,000 staff across Kent, Sussex and Hampshire.

It supplies one million households with fresh water and treats and recycles water to almost two million homes.