FORCED out of their homes through no fault of their own, the lives of Normandy Crescent residents are turbulent to say the least right now.

They have had to endure the shock of their street flooding and the agony of seeing their possessions ruined.

Added to that was the stress of finding new accommodation and trying to make the temporary roof over their heads as homely as possible, with the prospect of staying there for several months.

The last thing they needed was a bill for council tax and electricity for the house they have had to abandon.

In the first place, the move is likely to have been an expensive one for the families, and while insurance will cover the costs, a lot of the payments would have been upfront.

To be burdened with this extra, unforseen cost will prey on the nerves of these already shaken families.

Thames Water’s hollow gesture of paying these bills back once they return to their homes – likely to be in the new year – fails to realise the impact the huge chunk of income paying two sets of bills will have on them.

Then again, the water company, that has a monopoly over its customers as they cannot choose another provider, made pre-tax profits of £259.3m in 2013/14 so they could probably afford to take a hit for a few months.

Sadly it seems the firm does not realise the hardship its customers are facing, nor the poor treatment it is giving them following a disaster the cause of which is still unknown.

They deserve much better.