THAMES Water has launched a new initiative offering greater flexibility to workers who have trouble balancing work and home lives.

The company, which employs 1,000 workers at its Swindon call centre, has launched a booklet detailing the options open for staff such as lone parents and carers.

These include job sharing, working from home, parental leave and career breaks.

They are detailed in a new booklet which has been circulated to the company's 5,000 UK staff.

Personnel director Julia Cherrett said: "We're proud of the range of options we offer, which are a lot more than is legally required, and want to promote them as widely as possible throughout the company."