A BAFFLED Porsche garage owner spoke of his shock when told his premises had haemorrhaged 1.7 million litres of extra water, which he could not account for.

Owner of JMG Porsche, in Fairmile, Christchurch, Jon Mitchell revealed how his company usually pays £80 every three months for 80 cubic metres of water. The father-of-three said he was amazed when Bournemouth Water told him his company’s usage had spiked to an amount equivalent to two-thirds of the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, at a cost of £2,000. Mr Mitchell, 39, explained that there has been no leaks at his premises and neither he nor Bournemouth Water can explain the mystery of where the missing water has disappeared.

“To put it into perspective I think if we had leaked an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of water we would have noticed.” Mr Mitchell said.

“We are a Porsche specialist garage. Fifty per cent of our cars are air cooled, so its not as if we use much water in radiator top-ups here. I just don’t think Bournemouth Water actually has any concept of how much volume 1.7 million litres of water is.”

Bournemouth Water explained how it contacted Mr Mitchell when it noticed water consumption at his premises had dramatically increased and sent an engineer to the garage when the garage owner was unable to explain the mystery.

Water levels have now returned to normal at the premises, although Bournemouth Water added that it has sent a surveyor to the area this week to try to discover where the missing water has gone.

A spokesman for the water company, explained: “We have resolved the matter with the customer and our priority now is to investigate what happened. It could be anything. There may be a leak in the immediate area, possibly underground. “This kind of sudden increase in water consumption is not unusual, but usually it can be explained by a leak or maybe someone leaving a tap running.

“We would advise customers to take basic precautions to make sure they turn their taps off, check the flushing systems on their toilets and ensure their plumbing is maintained.”