An angry mum has started a petition against her water providers for charging her and her neighbours unusually high bills.

Faye Percival, 33, of Queenborough Road, Southminster, was issued two separate bills in October by Anglian Water and Essex and Suffolk Water totalling £753.56 for the year.

Mrs Percival has been told it is not down to excessive water usage but because one company provides water and the other removes sewage.

An Anglian Water spokesman said some properties Queenborough Road were on rateable value tariffs, meaning households are charged a set amount for the sewerage the company provides.

However, he said the average price for both services in the street should only total about £560 a year on this type of tariff.

An Essex and Suffolk Water spokesman said its average annual charge for water supply on Queenborough Road is between £230 to £240 and between £250 to £260 for unmetered customers.

* Mrs Percival's petition is at change.org/en-GB/petitions/water-charges-are-your-bills-higher-than-average-call-for-a-drop-in-outrageous-water-bills-in-the-dengie-peninsula