AN Evesham resident is warning people to check their utilities bills after battling with water supplier Severn Trent for four months for a refund.

Pamela Abbotts and her brother Dave, of Pershore Road, Hampton, were surprised to be sent a water bill for over £260, more than £100 higher than their usual bills, in early September.

It eventually took five letters, three telephone calls and a visit from an engineer before the couple received a rebate of nearly £100 late last week.

In the meantime the couple were billed an additional amount and told it would be recovered if not paid, then told not to pay it, and had to write back to the water supplier because the details on the belated rebate cheque were wrong.

"It's taken up a lot of time writing and ringing them," said an annoyed Miss Abbotts.

"They wouldn't have contacted us to tell us we had overpaid if we hadn't queried it with them.

"I think people need to be careful. And we were told to take regular meter readings and compare them but it's difficult for some elderly people to take readings. We had some difficulty ourselves and I think Severn Trent should be told."

After receiving the bill for £266.17p, Miss Abbotts paid in full.

"If you don't pay it they just add interest," she added.

She rang Severn Trent on September 27 but was told she had not read the meter properly.

An engineer visited two days later and found a small leak after digging up the Pershore Road next to the meter.

On January 6 Miss Abbotts received a cheque for £95.55 only to find her details were wrongly labelled.

Severn Trent spokesman Ben Smallman said: "We have calculated Miss Abbotts' previous bills, which averaged around 78 cubic metres, the bill in question was for 178 cubic metres so we know that is when the leak occurred," he said.

"We must apologise for the delay in sorting things out. When Miss Abbott initially contacted us it was to say she was having difficulty reading her meter. In response we sent out an advice pack for the elderly which is why the problem took so long to sort out. We apologise for any distress we have caused."