GEORGE and Deborah McManus thought that a meter would help to cut their £20-a-month water bill. Yorkshire Water had other ideas.

After a year of metering, the company suddenly demanded an extra £1,000 and when the couple complained it said that they must have sprung a leak. Mr McManus moved his furniture, took up his floorboards and searched in vain under the house in Beverley, East Yorkshire, for signs of damp.

Only after 18 months of metering did Yorkshire Water finally realise that it was charging them for their neighbours’ water as well. Mr McManus, who has yet to receive an apology or refund, said yesterday that he was worried that other customers might unknowingly be paying for their whole street.

“When the engineer first came I said jokingly that maybe I was paying for the rest of the street. The engineer said ‘No sir, I know these houses. You have got a leak’.”

He added: “Very reluctantly and after several months of arguing about it, Yorkshire Water said that they might have installed the meter in the wrong place. I reckon there must be lots of properties like mine, a Victorian semi, with half a dozen other properties off the same pipe. Is this how they make their money?”

Yorkshire Water is a subsidiary of Kelda, which was created and floated in 1999 and has 4.7 million customers. Its pre-tax profits last year were £224 million.

Mr McManus, 51, had a new meter fitted yesterday. His case comes at a sensitive time for water companies. Thames Water faces fines of millions of pounds for failing to meet leakage targets for the fourth successive year. A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Water said: “We apologise to Mr McManus for the time it has taken to resolve this issue. This has fallen below our usual standards. We were first contacted in March and investigated the situation, visiting the property on two occasions and contacting Mr McManus by letter and telephone.

“The water meter, which had been fitted incorrectly and was taking readings for two further properties, was removed yesterday and a meter which supplies to Mr McManus only was installed.

“We will be writing to Mr McManus shortly to confirm our actions, provide a full refund and to officially apologise. This situation is very rare, and instances of potential errors are fully investigated.”

Yorkshire Water is Britain’s third-biggest water company and has won permission to raise its charges by a total of 18 per cent by 2009-10 to pay for infrastructure improvements.

BILL CONTROL

Unmetered charges are based on the rateable value of a property

Customers are entitled to have a meter installed free of charge

Companies can install meters in areas of water scarcity

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