BATTLE lines have been drawn after the water bill for the towns cemetery increased seven-fold within a quarter.
Uttoxeter Town Council and David Bailey, of Stafford Road, have come head to head after the water bill for Uttoxeter Cemetery increased from the normal average of £10 a quarter to £74.55.
Mr Bailey wrote to the council asking for an apology after cemetery manager Tina Jeffery approached his mother telling her to pass on a message informing him not to use his pressure washer or the cemetery water.
His letter stated: “I would like to inform you that we have an outside tap at the back of the house and we pay our own water rates and are in a position to use it as and when we choose to without yours or Mrs Jeffery’s permission.
“I take exception to your employee approaching my 66- year-old mother and will expect an apology forthwith, if this is not forthcoming I will have no alternative than to take this issue up with a higher authority.” He also accused the manager of harassing relatives of an ‘innocent supposed rule breaker’.
However, in a letter from the council’s solicitors to the family it states it was an ‘amicable conversation’ and said that other matters have arisen between the council and Mr Bailey.
These include parking on cemetery property, damaging the driveway surface and taking other equipment, other than hand-held gardening tools, onto the grounds.
Uttoxeter’s Mayor David Brookes also defended the actions of Mrs Jeffery and accused Mr Bailey of damaging the tarmac by using cleaning products to clean up an oil spill.
He said: “I am more than happy to defend the comments of the staff of Uttoxeter Town Council. I know that Mrs Jeffery would have approached Mrs Bailey in a professional manner.
“We clearly had an incident where the tarmac had obviously been cleaned with cleaning products that were not appropriate.
“Of course Mr Bailey can use his own private water supply. One of my first actions as Mayor of Uttoxeter was to disconnect the stand pipe which was operating there and put a stop on the end so it can not be used.
“Prior to that we originally paid around £10 a quarter but the previous quarter it had jumped to almost £100.
“Since I disabled the stand pipe the water bill surprisingly returned to the original amount.
“I may as Mayor of Uttoxeter have overstepped my mark by taking such measures but I did it with the full support of the town hall staff and the cemetery manager.”
