the times | Tuesday December 21 2021 2GM 3
News
“clearly not done so when dealing with
local waste water — though it has seen
fit to reward itself and still claims pay-
ment from its customers”.
Tanya Sephton, customer services
director for South East Water, said:
“We have had direct contact from a
very small number of customers who
have informed us that they will not pay
the Southern Water section of their
water bill.
“In total, the number of customers we
have been contacted by remains in
single digits. While we appreciate our
customers’ concerns on the portion of
their bill that relates to Southern Water,
it is important that all customers
continue to pay all of their bill.
“Regrettably, if customers continue
to withhold payment for the Southern
Water portion of their bill, we will
follow our standard approach to
recover non-payment.
“While we understand their
concerns, we would encourage them to
reconsider their decision.”water services this year, saying that he
swam regularly in the sea at Whitstable
but Southern Water had polluted
coastal waters for 46 days between
April and October.
Clark received a bill reminder
telling him that unless he paid up
his account would be passed to a
debt collection agency which
“may make a doorstep visit to
discuss collection”.
If he still refused to pay, South
East Water could seek a county
court judgment against him, the
reminder added.
Clark responded last week to
South East Water with a letter
accusing it of being “a mere lackey
for an organisation [Southern
Water] with a criminal history”.
He wrote: “The making of an
unwarranted demand with menaces,
ie the threat of unjustified court
action and the use of a debt collection
service, is a criminal offence that comes
under the auspices of section 21 of theTheft Act 1968. I know that because in
the past I have arrested people for that
offence and put them before the courts.
I have been before the crown court on
many occasions but always as a witness
and never, like Southern Water, as a
defendant.
“If you send the debt-collecting thugs
around I will have no alternative but to
call the police. I owe you nothing.”
Clark said dozens of other residents
had also withheld bill payments over
the sewage spills.
They include Julie Wassmer, a
Whitstable-based author, who received
a letter from Southern Water’s
customer relations manager saying
that she was “truly sorry” to read of her
frustrations over the spills and did
“understand how angry” she must
be but non-payment could lead to
“collections activity”.
Wassmer said that the Consumer
Rights Act 2015 said that services
must be provided with reasonable care
and skill but Southern Water hadHaving become a household name as a
stubborn campaigner with a pledge to
feed the world, Bob Geldof turned his
attention to matters more mundane.
Now residents in the southeast of
England risk being pursued by debt
collectors after he urged them not to
pay part of their water bills in a dispute
over sewage.
The Live Aid founder condemned
Southern Water for the “vile harm”
done to people who swam in seas
polluted by raw waste it had failed to
treat.
He told a public meeting in Faver-
sham, Kent, last month that the record
£90 million fine imposed on the com-
pany in July for illegal discharges was a
drop in the ocean for the firm.
“Don’t pay your water bills to
Southern Water, they can
f*** off,” he said, accord-
ing to the Kent Online
website.
“How are they
allowed to do this?
I’m absolutely
certain if there
was a one-year
minimum cus-
todial sentence
for them then it
would stop.”
Geldof, 70, who
owns the 12th-centu-
ry Davington Priory
near Faversham, said he
supported people in Whit-
stable who were withholding
payments, adding: “I’m straight there to
join them, in fact I’ll join them
immediately.”
Residents who have withheld
payment say they have been
contacted by Southern Water and
South East Water and told: “Further
action will be taken to recover the
non-payment.”
Southern Water charges the
residents for waste water services
and South East Water, which
issues a joint bill on behalf of both
companies, charges for the supply
of fresh water.
Ashley Clark, 66, a Conservative
councillor on Canterbury city council
and a retired detective inspector in
Kent police, is one of those who is
refusing to pay the Southern Water
portion of the bill.
He declined to pay £158 for waste
Geldof wades into dirty beach battle
Neighbours face threat
of debt collectors after
pop star urges them not
to pay polluter’s bills,
reports Ben Webster
water bills to
hey can
cord-
lineyo
tu-
iory
aid he
in Whit-
withholding
I’m straight there toi ththe TSewage pollution in the
waters off Whitstable, Kent,
prompted Bob Geldof, a
Southern Water customer at
his home, Davington Priory,
to side with protestersCBCK-CHRISTINE/GETTY IMAGESThe Queen has decided not to go to
Sandringham for Christmas and will
remain at Windsor Castle instead.
She had wanted a traditional winter
break with family at her Norfolk home
but took the decision as a precaution
after “careful consideration” because of
the surge in Omicron cases. Downing
Street was informed but not involved.
It is the second year that the
pandemic has caused the cancellation
of the Queen’s Christmas trip to
Sandringham.
Unlike last year, however, when she
and the Duke of Edinburgh spent
Christmas alone, members of the
Queen’s family are still expected to be
with her on Christmas Day. It is under-
Queen cancels traditional Christmas break at Sandringham
stood that all appropriate guidelines
will be followed and there will be “sens-
ible precautions”.
The present Covid rules would not
prevent any members of her family
from joining the Queen, who is facing
her first Christmas without Prince Phi-
lip, who died in April aged 99.
If the Queen had gone to Sandring-
ham, the Prince of Wales and the Duch-
ess of Cornwall and the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge would have
been expected to join her on Christmas
Day, along with the Duke of York, the
Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir
Tim Laurence and the Earl and Count-
ess of Wessex.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and
their husbands would also have been
there. However, Clarence Houserefused to say where the Prince of
Wales and Duchess of Cornwall would
spend Christmas. Kensington Palace
was also unable to say where the Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge, along with
their children, Prince George, Princess
Charlotte and Prince Louis, would be
on December 25.
A Clarence House source said plans
were “still being confirmed”.
A royal source suggested that as the
Queen had made the decision only yes-
terday it was too early for other
members of the royal family to have
made new arrangements.
It is considered highly likely that the
Duke of York and Earl and Countess of
Wessex and their family will join the
Queen as they live nearby. Prince
Harry and his wife, Meghan, along withtheir son, Archie, and daughter, Lilibet,
were never expected to join the family
at Sandringham as they are remaining
in the US.
With coronavirus cases rising rapidly
across the country, the Queen will not
be expected to attend church in public.
Traditionally, crowds gather at St Mary
Magdalene church in Sandringham
to see members of the royal family
attend the Christmas Day service.
Last year, instead of going to the
Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor
Great Park, she and Prince Philip
attended a service in Windsor Castle,
where a royal chaplain delivered a
sermon and readings inside her private
chapel.
At the weekend it was reported that
the Queen missed the church service atAll Saints as a precaution because of
rising Covid cases.
The Queen’s decision to remain in
Windsor follows her earlier decision to
cancel the royal family’s traditional
pre-Christmas lunch.
The lunch, which would have
involved up to 50 people, is a chance for
the Queen to see her wider family
before leaving to spend Christmas at
Sandringham.
This year it had been due to be held at
Windsor Castle rather than Bucking-
ham Palace.
While there was “regret” that the
lunch was cancelled, there was a belief
that it was “the right thing to do for all
concerned”, a source said. Last year’s
gathering was also cancelled because of
the pandemic.Valentine Low