Water company threatens to cut off Cornwall farm's water supply
A Cornish farmer is worried for the welfare of her herd of Highland cows after her water company threatened to cut her farms water supply, she says. Irene Parker, 70, who has farmed on her 40-acre (16-hectare) farm near Stithians for 35 years, said she received a letter from South West Water saying her water supply would be shut off due to an unpaid bill. Ms Parker said she "received a threatening letter, but no bill" and was originally told she was in credit with the utility.South West Water said Source for Business, part of the owning Pennon Group and which deals with business customers, contacted Ms Parker to "understand her concerns with a view to resolving the situation as quickly as possible".
Ms Parker said she got a letter "out of the blue" from Source for Business saying it would cut her water off, and added that South West Water never told her that her account would be transferred to another business. She said: "I was worried as the letter took 10 days to get to me and it said it would cut it off in seven days." She added it was "alarming" as her cows had calves and "drink a lot of water."Ms Parker said she expected the supply to be turned off at any moment but it never was, fortunately. She added that the water company told her it had found her credit but did not apologise or confirm whether or not the supply would be cut.
The water supply was installed into one of the farm's fields in July 2024. Ms Parker said that someone from South West Water came to read her meter on 4 April, but was shocked when the company disputed that happening. She said: "It wasn't even my fault. I'd take it on the chin if it had been."They said nobody came to read the meter and that's simply not true."In a statement, South West Water "apologised for the stress caused" to Ms Parker.It said it "initially dealt with the matter" but it was now being handled by Source for Business, which was the new retailer of the farm's supply.
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