35 or 30?

Ieyasu wrote, strangely:
[nq:1]"The total is thirty pounds, less the five pounds deposit that you've paid."[/nq]
Over here (on the continent where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain), it's a five-pound deposit, not a five pounds deposit.
[nq:1]so the original total is 35?[/nq]
The (original) total was thirty pounds. The sentence says so with unmistakable clarity: "The total is

[nq:1]Ieyasu wrote, strangely:[/nq]
[nq:2]"The total is thirty pounds, less the five pounds deposit that you've paid."[/nq]
[nq:1]Over here (on the continent where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain), it's a five-pound deposit, not a five pounds deposit.[/nq]
What if it were a five pounds' deposit?
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom

}
}> Ieyasu wrote, strangely:
}>
}>>"The total is thirty pounds, less the five pounds deposit that you've paid." }>
}> Over here (on the continent where the wind comes sweepin' down the }> plain), it's a five-pound deposit, not a five pounds deposit. }
} What if it were a five pounds' deposit?
Now you've gone and wook up Rey again. The poor fellow needs

[nq:1]"The total is thirty pounds, less the five pounds deposit that you've paid." so the original total is 35?[/nq]
The total is thirty pounds, less the five pounds deposit you have paid, so the BALANCE OWING is twenty five pounds.
Total here means the entire cost.
The amount which remains to be paid is the Balance or the sum owing