THE campaign to stop pre-payment water meters being put in Lancashire homes was stepped up this week, despite reassurances from North West Water (NWW) and a temporary halt on installing the devices.

The leader of the county council, Louise Ellman, called on NWW to go further and permanently ban the meters, which automatically cut off the supply if householders fall behind with payments.

Mrs Ellman said: "We believe these new meters pose a real threat to public health. This system could leave tens of thousands of houses without water and lead to people being unable to maintain personal hygiene.

"People are judged to have disconnected themselves if they cannot pay to recharge their water card and the disconnections are not recorded on the official statistics.

"Everything will very soon be in place for a judicial review in the courts to challenge the companies about these pre-payment devices.

"I have never known such an appalling attack on the most vulnerable people in society and we will continue to fight until these meters are abandoned."

NWW say that as pre-payment meters are only fitted at the householder's request, no-one is under any obligation to have one. The company also say that water will not be cut off if there is any risk to public health.

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