A hairdresser fears a whopping water bill will send her out of business.

Valerie Barber was shocked when the £4,470.40 demand dropped through her letter box.

The six-month bill was more than 40 times the usual amount at the small Shoreham salon.

Thinking there must be a mistake, she contacted Southern Water.

But the 52-year-old discovered the hefty bill for The Petite Salon was correct and due to a leaky pipe.

This was the first Mrs Barber knew of the problem and because the leak involved pipework within the boundary of the property in Upper Shoreham Road, she was responsible.

The company deleted the charge for waste water which is for services such as toilets.

This left £1,832.35 - pushing the monthly direct debits from £21 to almost £400 per month.

Mrs Barber, of Portslade, who has been a hairdresser for 37 years set up the business 13 years ago She said: "This could put me out of business. We deal with shampoo-and-set customers and cater for the community. We are not a big salon.

"I don't make huge profits - I do this job because I enjoy it.

"I haven't got that kind of money. I want to warn businesses to check the small print on bills and check their meters. They are still responsible for water loss through leakage even if it's not their fault."

She said a Southern Water workman told her the wasted water was enough to fill four swimming pools.

Mrs Barber's landlord fixed the leak but another has since appeared.

The location of the second leak has not been established and Mrs Barber fears another enormous bill.

She said: "It's really frightening. I check the meter every morning because I'm so worried about another huge bill.

"It's not easy to read the meter, which is under the pavement outside the shop.

"I have to open the lid with a screwdriver and get down on my hands and knees and wrap my skirt around my legs. Sometimes I have to lie down on the pavement to get to the meter.

"I'm in the middle in all this because I own the lease. It is unfair that it's down to the customer to notice any problems. How can people be expected to maintain pipes which are underground?

"I've spoken to solicitors but because Southern Water is such a big company, no one wants to know."

A Southern Water spokeswoman said commercial customers were responsible for paying for water flowing through their pipes.

She said the company did not know about the leak until Mrs Barber contacted them six months ago.

She said: "We would not know there was a leak in a pipe until we investigated.

"The bill for Mrs Barber in September 2002 was higher than usual. It highlighted there was increased water consumption at the property.

"If customers notice a bill is higher than usual it is up to them to contact us. It is their meter and water bill.

"When Mrs Barber contacted us following the bill in March 2003 we found a leak on the private pipe.

"It is stated on the back of bills customers must check meters regularly.

"We will be contacting the customer as soon as possible to arrange a visit to investigate a possible problem with the supply pipe."