Woman billed for neighbor's water 16 years

BRADFORD, England, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A British woman who discovered she had mistakenly been paying her neighbor's water bills for 16 years says she's suing the local utility.

Jean Shaw of Bradford of West Yorkshire, England, says she collapsed in tears after being told by a water engineer that her years of scrimping to try to bring down her high water bills were made necessary because of a billing error, the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Shaw, 50, told the newspaper that for years she tried to make do by having her two children share baths, only washing clothes once a week and avoiding flushing the toilet. She said she had always believed the expensive bill was caused by her children using too much water.

The Daily Mail said Yorkshire Water has offered her $230 in compensation, but Shaw wants $15,300 from the utility for the money she says she's lost and as compensation for the mental strain it put her family through.