A PENSIONER claims she has been left “unbelievably stressed” by a mystery leak that has more than doubled her water bill.

Linda Demott, 74, first discovered a spike in her water meter when she returned home from a holiday in Mexico last December.

And after carrying out a flow test with her partner, Richard, she concluded that the issue was likely due to a leak in an underground pipe near to their home in Belper, Derbyshire.  

She claims the leak has caused her monthly water bill to increase from £24 to £62.48.

However, the water company say there’s nothing they can do about it.

Linda told Derbyshire Live: “It started when we were away in Mexico in May. The water bill when we came back was for more than it should be because the water is leaking at two litres a minute.

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“Severn Trent has come out at various times, but the pipe is outside my house and not on the pavement so it’s deemed as my responsibility. They put a note through my neighbour’s door saying it had been fixed, but clearly it hadn’t been.

“I’ve had promises, and I’ve been given a case worker from the high priority complaints team on July 27. I’ve refused to pay a £50 good will amount that they’ve asked for because there’s been no good will.

She added: “I’m 74 and my partner is the same age as well. The amount of stress it is causing is unbelievable.

“The frustration of not getting anything done, I don’t need at my time of life. They know there was a leak from December, but the first I hear about it is in May. Its ridiculous.”

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Linda, who is a retired lecturer, now fears that engineers may have to dig up her neighbour’s garden in order to source the cause of leak.

But local council Severn Trent say that they are only allowed to address issues with water supply on public land and not on private property.

A spokesperson said: “Our engineers have visited the property. We have identified that the leak is on private property and that therefore any repair is the responsibility of the consumer.

“We understand that this can be a stressful situation and while we’re unable to fix leaks on private land, we provide customers with support in the form of detailed information and guidance to help them get the repairs made as quickly and easily as possible.

“Once the leak has been fixed, the customer can also contact us to apply for a leakage allowance, which can cover the cost of water lost during the leak, so people aren’t paying for anything they haven’t used.”

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