“A disabled mother from Yorkshire says she is so worried about the cost of water that she sometimes has to miss out on washing or flushing the toilet.
Shirley Widdop, from Keighley, whose bill, based on a water meter, has risen by 35%, says: “It’s outrageous and like something from the 1930s.”
“We shouldn’t have to ration water.”
A report on poverty from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that arrears for water bills are now the most common form of debt for the poorest families.
“I am on a water meter and because I’m on a low income I constantly worry about the bill being too high,” says the 51-year-old, who lives with two of her children.
She says it’s embarrassing but wants to raise awareness for many other people in a similar situation “who can’t speak up for themselves”.
The Consumer Council for Water, the watchdog for water consumers, says the number of people being put on to reduced rates for water bills, because they are struggling to pay, has risen by 50% in a year, to almost 400,000. …”
East Devon Watch 