Mother-of-two unknowingly paid neighbour's water bill for 16 YEARS

Jean Shaw holds the offending bills. She had been paying for her neighbour's water for 16 years

A woman is suing a water company after finding out she had been paying her neighbour's bills for 16 years.

Jean Shaw made her children share baths, only washed clothes once a week and avoided flushing the toilet to try to save on her water bill.

Mrs Shaw moved into her home in 1992 and started using water frugally after receiving a first quarterly bill of £75, which she thought expensive at the time.

Her husband left soon after moving in and she always believed the expensive bill was caused by her two children using too much water.

It wasn't until February this year - by which time the hospital clerk's children, Jane, 25, and James, 24, had left home - that she noticed something was wrong, when a bill arrived for £185.

After informing the water company, tests were carried out to find out whether a leak was causing the increased usage. Mrs Shaw, 50, collapsed in tears when a water engineer told her she had been connected to next door's meter and had been paying their bill for 16 years.

To make matters worse, Yorkshire Water continued to bill her for her neighbour's meter until September this year, despite her protests.

Mrs Shaw's neighbour's house in Bradford, West Yorkshire

As there was no reading for her household, there is no way of working out how much Mrs Shaw has overpaid. Yorkshire Water has offered her £150 compensation.

But Mrs Shaw, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, is seeking £10,000 from the company for the money she has lost and the mental strain it put her family under.

She said: 'This had such a strong psychological effect on me, always straining to keep the water levels down. The first bill was around £75, which was a lot of money 16 years ago.

'There was no way I could handle it going any higher so we were only bathing in four inches of water and all three of us were using the same water. The last one in would get in the mucky water. We weren't flushing the toilet unless absolutely necessary and I was putting bricks into the cistern to try and cut down the flow.

'For 16 years we would only do one clothes wash a week.'

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: 'Our investigations into Mrs Shaw's complaint have revealed the meter was connected to the wrong property, which is obviously regrettable and something we accept full responsibility for.

'Mrs Shaw did exactly the right thing in contacting Yorkshire Water to query her bill, which brought the incorrect connection to light.

'Since then, we have offered to go back through Mrs Shaw's bills to work out if she has been over or undercharged - something which she has declined.

'Nevertheless, we have written to Mrs Shaw to explain the circumstances and to offer her compensation for any distress we may have caused as a goodwill gesture. We are currently awaiting her response.'