United Utilities have sparked outrage after residents of two Merseyside tower blocks had accounts set up in their names for flats they no longer lived in and for services they never used.
Towerblocks declared unsafe and no residents allowed to enter again
Residents at Beech Rise and Willow Rise tower blocks were made homeless in July 2025, when the two Kirkby tower blocks were declared “unsafe” by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.
The tower blocks, which are located on Roughwood Drive, are owned by TR Marketing Ltd, with a company called Rockwell (FC100) Limited acting as head lessor. As soon as the tower blocks were declared “unsafe” and a prohibition notice – which prohibits use of the premises – was activated, security fencing was erected around the blocks and security teams were hired to monitor the site.
Since then, no tenant or leaseholder from any of the 160 affected flats has been allowed to re-enter the blocks.
An account set up in her name without her knowledge
One resident, Arunee Leerasiri (known as Ru), stated at the time: “I am beyond devastated. I work from home; I am now about to be homeless. I love my home. I spent time and money to make it nice, and now it’s being stripped away from me. It’s really unjust what’s happening to people.”
However, Ru’s devastation turned to anger when she discovered that, despite being legally barred from entering the premises, a United Utilities account for a supply of water had been set up in her name. To Ru’s further dismay, she also discovered that the account was accruing debt.
She said: “Apart from all the drama we have been through with the flats, I found out I had an account set up by United Utilities for this year’s charges – an account for the flat I’m not allowed to live in and was forced to move out of.”
Charged for services she could not and did not get
Ru was alerted to the possibility of the United Utilities account by a former neighbour, and following lengthy and difficult conversations with the water supplier, discovered that the account – which had been opened without her knowledge or consent – had a current balance owed of £45.
Whilst United Utilities did eventually agree to close Ru’s account and cancel the ‘debt’, Ru explained that she was “fuming” and described United Utilities’ actions as “beyond unacceptable”, stating: “This is mind-blowing, given how we had been kicked out (of the flats) and we had never had an account (with United Utilities)… this is just an excuse for a big company to make money off people.”
No notification from United Utilities about the new accounts
The neighbour who alerted Ru to the existence of the accounts explained how they had discovered the issue by chance.
“I just happened to be checking my credit score and noticed my score had dropped a little and a new account had been added.
“I checked the accounts and saw one for United Utilities created last month with a balance of £42, which, considering everyone was asked to leave the development last year, obviously seems very suspicious. I’ve had no contact about this in any form either; it’s just by pure chance I’ve picked up on it.
“There’s already been enough issues with this whole saga around the buildings, so I’d rather not have had any more headaches.”
United Utilities is sorry for the inconvenience
A spokesperson for United Utilities stated: “These accounts were set up in error, as we were not notified that the properties were uninhabitable.
“We have closed all the accounts and would like to reassure the impacted residents that we have not shared any information that would cause any detriment to their credit files.
“We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
After a press release by Local Democracy Reporter Elliot Jessett.
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