Viscountess, 92, used her ‘father’s best naval language’ at bailiffs

A 92-year-old viscountess fumed her ‘father’s best naval language’ as bailiffs tried to collect a £1,500 bill she did not owe.

Marianna Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley is ‘utterly fed up’ with a utility company which has been trying to get the money from her for two years.

The former High Sheriff of Kent insists she does not owe the money as she sold the land either side of her rural home in Harrietsham, near Maidstone, Kent in 2018.

She has informed independent business water supplier Castle Water of the new ownership countless times – to no avail.

And Lady Monckton was at the end of her tether when bailiffs turned up at the doorstep of her gated red-bricked home on July 20.

She said: ‘I was walking out to my garage with my secretary when we became suspicious of a white van going very slowly by the top gate before parking at the main gate.

‘My secretary went over to the woman but she wouldn’t say who they were or why they were here. She was extremely rude.

‘She moved it to block the farm entrance and we went back to the garage. Then she came up my driveway with a chap in a black car who was sitting on his mobile with the window half down.

‘I went up to him and he said he was here to see Viscountess Monckton because she owes money to Castle Water. I told him I’m Viscountess Monckton and I don’t owe a penny to Castle Water.

‘I actually used my father’s best naval language, which I will not repeat, but I was fuming.

‘He wanted to know who the new land owners were but I wouldn’t tell him as Castle Water already know from the many times I have told them.

‘The man was very cursory and rude. It was disgraceful. I couldn’t believe the way he spoke to me. There was no need for their bully boys to be so blatantly rude.

‘Manners don’t cost a penny. Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I said, but I am so fed up with it all. This made me furious.’

The debt collectors left immediately afterwards.

Lady Monckton, who joked she is a ‘tough old bat’, says she was ‘brought up tough and made to stand up for myself’ as one of eight children to Royal Navy Commander Robert Bower, who later became an MP.

She married Major General Gilbert Monckton who was awarded the Military Cross for commanding a rear-guard defence at Dunkirk.

And the busy regimented lifestyle led to Lady Monckton being High Sheriff of Kent in 1981, St John’s Ambulance president for eight years and patron of the Heart of Kent Hospice.

Princess Diana even opened a new hospice site for Lady Monckton in 1992.

Lady Monckton now hopes the ordeal with Castle Water is finally over and hopes for an apology.

She added: ‘The land was sold three years ago and I’ve been pestered with bills from them ever since.

‘This year the new owners managed to get Castle Water to update their details so the bills went to them – but they still had my name on them.

‘That’s when I started to get letters from debt collectors saying I owed money.

‘I told the new owner about what happened and he said ‘how outrageous’ and ‘at least they met their match’.

‘They have battled Castle Water for years and finally got through to their head of complaints who incredibly told them they had received notification of change of ownership in 2018.

‘I was thinking of taking them to court for harassment but I have got better things to do. The least they could do is apologise.’

A Castle Water spokesman said: ‘While we cannot comment on individual customer accounts, we can confirm that we are investigating this account.

‘We handle tens of thousands of updates to accounts each year. Where the correct process hasn’t been followed, we are always keen to know and will take appropriate action.’