Woman issued with £500k water bill in error
BBCA woman has said she "nearly passed out with shock" when she received a bill from a water firm for more than £500,000.
Barbara Mellor, from Devon, received a bill from South West Water which said she had used about 75 million litres (16.5 million gallons) of water in just 21 days in August 2025, but then about 25,000 litres (5,500 gallons) across five months after a new meter was installed.
Mellor, 91, who lives alone in a two-bedroom bungalow, said if the bill, for six months usage, was correct, she would have had "the equivalent of 5,323 baths" a day.
The water firm apologised and said it was an "incorrect meter reading caused by extra digits being entered in error".
The widow of 21 years said South West Water sent an engineer to investigate to see if there was a leak at her property, which Mellor said was "a waste of time and money".
"My consumption with the new meter is normal, therefore I do not have a leak," she said.
"I have to laugh or I would cry."
She added she had feared a six-week wait for engineers to "come searching for my non-existent leak".
She added: "I am certain that the mistake occurred because somebody made an error when recording the reading on the old meter."
The utility confirmed the meter was read in error.
In a statement, it said: "We have apologised to the customer, corrected the mistake, and issued a revised bill.
"The matter is now resolved."
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