BUSINESS as usual is the message from Wessex Water after the collapse of its parent company, US energy group Enron, last week.

Wessex Water chairman Colin Skellett said there was no cause for concern despite the recent developments.

"We are determined that the current speculation will not divert us from our programme of efficiency and service improvement," he explained.

"I am confident that within any new ownership structure a continuation of this approach will deliver a superior performance for the benefit of customers and investors and provide a competitive stimulus within the UK water industry."

The company supplies drinking water to 1.2 million people in 513,000 properties in the south-west and provides sewerage services to 2.4 million.

Ofwat, the independent water watchdog, has received assurances that customers should see no change in the service.

Sheila Reiter, chairman of Ofwat's Wessex Customer Service Committee (CSC), said: "When Enron bought Wessex Water, the CSC sought ring-fencing measures to protect customers. Ofwat put these measures in place and their effectiveness is now being tested."

The GMB union, which represents the 1,400 staff in Wessex Water, confirmed that there should be no surprise redundancies.

However, campaign group WaterWatch said Ofwat must take over the running of Wessex Water, by imposing an administration order, using its powers under the Water Industry Act 1991.

WaterWatch fears Enron, or its administrators, will take dividends from Wessex Water in order to pay off creditors.

Pete Bowler, the campaign officer, said: "The time to act is now. If Enron's administrators get their hands on the cash, customers will be faced with higher bills just to run the company day to day."

Financial companies headed by WestLB and Royal Bank of Scotland have now emerged as front-runners in the £1.2 billion race to buy Wessex Water from Enron, which paid £1.4 billion for it in 1998.

Smaller rivals Dynergy were in talks to take over Enron, but pulled out of the rescue leaving billions of pounds worth of debts.

Well-known high street banks, including Abbey National, have seen their shares plunge on fears over their exposure to the struggling US energy group.

More than 1,000 UK staff were laid off when administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers wound down some of Enron's trading operations.

However, Wessex Water looks likely to survive, and figures published last week show it continues to thrive, with a six-month, £113 million turnover.