Animal sanctuary in Milton Keynes hit with shocking £23k water bill due to underground leak

An animal sanctuary in MK has been hit with a monstrous £23,000 water bill due to an underground leak that was not its fault.

The National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) charity centre in Aspley Guise only re-opened to the public on September 2 following a year of refurbishment work to repair its crumbling buildings.

But almost immediately the sanctuary received a bill from its water company for £23,778.17.

And that was only for a six-month period.

The site’s usual water consumption costs around £1,000 a year, so bosses questioned the water company hoping the bill was a mistake.

But the bill was correct – and it is believed an underground leak was responsible for the massive usage.

The leak developed sometime between August 2022 and February this year, but staff onsite only became aware of it in June when they noticed water collecting in one of the fields at its Glebe Farm base.

The centre, which was formerly HULA, contacted the water company immediately and after an investigation by the water company, the source of the leak was discovered and promptly repaired and paid for by the charity.

NAWT Chief Executive Office, Rob Mitchell, said this week: “When we examined the water meter readings on the bill.. it clearly showed they had taken a reading back in February this year which revealed at that time a massive spike in water consumption - and yet no one from the company informed us.

“Instead, those high meter readings were allowed to run for a further six months until we received our invoice in August which showed the full extent of the leak. Luckily, we discovered the leak for ourselves in June.

"Not only are we reeling with the shock of the amount we have to pay, but the water company haven't even taken into account any of the costs we spent promptly identifying and fixing the leak, which cost us £4,000.”

The rehoming charity has complained to the water company and asked why they didn’t notify them of the huge spike in their water meter consumption at the time so they could have dealt with the matter more promptly.

But the company have said this was not their responsibility, and suggested the charity considers taking up their ‘paid for’ service to help actively manage the water in the future.

Rob said: “We've been left with a huge hole in our finances at a time when charities are facing increasing running costs across the board. We run a frontline service for animals in need and would like some sort of acknowledgment of our efforts to rectify the leak and to not be financially penalised for something the water company was aware of some six months before they billed us.”

NAWT has spent a fortune over the past year improving the facilities and rundown buildings at the sanctuary.

Although the centre was closed to the public for visiting, it was been business as usual thanks to the help of foster carers, who gave the unwanted pets a safe place to stay while they waited on a new home.

You can view the animals for adoption or donate here.