RETIRED teacher Brenda Matthews was stunned when a bill for more than £5,000 landed on her lap after plumbers replaced her leaky boiler.

Mrs Matthews, 64, had called out an emergency plumber to her home in Adelaide Road, High Wycombe, in a panic when water started to pour through her kitchen ceiling.

A contractor working for Adams Plumbing, Broadway, Maidenhead, spent around 18 hours on the problem and replaced the boiler cylinder.

But the final bill came as a nasty surprise to Mrs Matthews. She said she was "in shock" when workmen presented her with an invoice for £5,585.45.

Mrs Matthews has complained to Trading Standards on the grounds that she has been overcharged adding: "I will be paying it off for evermore."

The total included £2,000 for the boiler cylinder, which the owner of Adams Plumbing, David Mote, admitted would cost them on average £250, but there was a mark-up.

David Collinson, of Buckinghamshire County Council Trading Standards Office, says the company has done nothing illegal as Mrs Matthews had signed a contract given to her by the contractor before the work began.

She told the Free Press she did not realise what she was signing and put her name on the paper as she was panicking. She is happy with the work carried out between March 10 and March 12, but is adamant the price is "unacceptable".

Mr Collinson revealed that Trading Standards had looked at 100 other complaints relating to Adams Plumbing. They include claims of very high charges but none was illegal.

Mr Collinson said: "The usual routine is that they present a contract to the homeowner which explains the costs per half an hour per man plus VAT. They represent this as a timesheet and they (the homeowners) sign it and their signature does appear next to the charges. Bearing in mind the number of complaints, people are not aware what they are signing."

He said that many of the complainants were sometimes vulnerable adding: "The sort of people that have made complaints tend to be vulnerable."

He added: "Many of the people are elderly."

Mr Collinson warned people to be vigilant and said: "If you ever sign any document, read it first and keep a copy of what you signed."

David Mote, of Adams Plumbing, said he could not comment on Mrs Matthews' specific complaint.

He said this was the first time he had heard about the 100 complaints sent to Trading Standards and said: "We cover Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire and in the last 18 months we have done thousands of jobs."

He added: "If we need any part then we tell them how much. When they know how much the materials will be we ask for a deposit to cover it.

"They sign a contract agreement and along with the rate is the time of starting and then a time of completion."

Mrs Matthews claims she believed at the time this was only a timesheet. Trading standards has warned people to be careful when signing any documents given by workmen.

Call Trading Standards Advice Line on 01296 383212