Wantage stud farm owner refusing to pay £16k bill to Castle Water

Grace Muir said she is withholding payment to Castle Water until the £16,000 bill is cut to something reasonable

A businesswoman is refusing to pay a water bill of almost £16,000 as she claims the company demanding it did not do enough to help her find a leak.

Grace Muir, who runs a stud farm near Wantage, said she asked Castle Water for help after her bills soared in 2017 but the company was "not forthcoming".

At that time Ms Muir paid about £4,600 a year for water but it rocketed after a rat chewed through a buried pipe.

Castle Water said it is working with Ms Muir to cut her bill.

Ms Muir, who runs North Farm Stud in Fawley, said she spent £15,000 hiring a private investigation firm last October, which found the main leak after nine days' work on the 200 acre (81 hectare) site.

Ms Muir found the leak was caused by a rat chewing through a plastic pipe in a stable

Between 2013/14 and 2016/17, she paid an average of £4,600 for her bills, but that jumped to an average of £8,625 between 2017/18 and 2020/21.

Castle Water has demanded a total of nearly £16,000 for 2021/22.

"It's gone on and on but it's always worried me and always been on my mind that it can't be right," Ms Muir said.

"That's the reason I phoned Castle Water on many occasions and asked for help.

"I said: 'I think I have got a leak' and [Castle Water] said: 'Well if it's your side of the meter, it's your problem.'

"I would say: 'I'm aware of that so how do I find the leak?' and they weren't forthcoming. It was a dead end every time."

Ms Muir is now monitoring her water use in a detailed log

Ms Muir has refused to pay her outstanding bill until it is cut to something she deems reasonable.

She is now keeping a detailed log of her water usage and is trying to organise a face-to-face meeting with Castle Water.

It supplies businesses, charities and public bodies across England and Scotland.

In a statement, it said it is "sympathetic" to Ms Muir's situation.

The form said is "working with [her]" to see if the bill can be cut, but has not yet received all of the information it needs, which Ms Muir disputes.

"Castle Water only took over the billing for this premises in April 2017, but we can see from historical records that there have been reports of leaks at this site going back several years and before we took over the billing," it added.