Van spotter gets water bills paid for

23/03/2008

A SHARP-EYED woman has won hundreds of pounds-worth of prizes after spotting a new Northumbrian Water van.

Lynnette Webster, from Darlington, entered Northumbrian Water's Spot the Van competition after seeing one of the vans near her home.

Mrs Webster is to have her £300 water and sewerage bill paid for a year, and has also won an energy efficient household appliance of her choice.

advertisementThe competition challenged customers across the North-East and North Yorkshire to spot one of Northumbrian Water's new fleet of 55 vans which have been re-branded.

Receiving her prize from the driver of the winning van, Paul Hill, who lives in Hartlepool and works as a meter reader, Mrs Webster said: "I'm thrilled to have won.

"I first noticed a van near my home one Tuesday afternoon.

"It stood out because of its brightly coloured graphics.

"When I read about the competition in the newspaper the following day, I thought 'I could have won that'.

"As luck would have it, I then saw another van on my road the next Friday so I ran upstairs, grabbed my digital camera and took a photo."

The rebranded vans show a picture of 32-year-old employee Joanne Robertson clutching a glass of tap water, accompanied by the slogan: 'Clearly thirst class! Top quality water - I'll drink to that!'

2:32pm Sunday 23rd March 2008

The Northern Echo - www.thenorthernecho.co.uk