Thousands without water told issues could last days

More than 8,000 South East Water customers have been affected by water supply issues across various parts of Kent.

Residents have been told it could be a couple of days before their water supplies are restored after four days of disruption.

The worst affected areas are Cranbrook and Benenden.

Bottled-water stations will re-open later in Cranbrook, Canterbury, Challock and Herne Bay - though South East Water says most customers in Herne Bay should have their supplies back.

The firm said its staff were exhausted and "pushed to limits" as they attempted to restore water across the county.

South East Water said issues were a result of prolonged hot weather, high demand, recent pipe bursts, and overnight power issues.

Mike Pickard, incident support manager at the water company, told BBC South East on Monday: "It's an ongoing challenge for us at the moment and we apologise sincerely to all affected customers."

He admitted the situation was "unacceptable" but said the firm was doing everything it could.

He added: "Our team is exhausted and being pushed to limits to make sure water is running."

Jenny Rhodes, incident manager at South East Water, urged customers with water to only use it for essential reasons.

She added that the company was aware of a number of incidents of abuse directed at staff and contractors.

"Whilst we fully appreciate the frustrations due to the current disruption, we do not tolerate any abuse towards our staff," Rhodes said.

"Our team is working to restore supplies as quickly as possible and deliver water to customers.

"We fully acknowledge that this level of service is unacceptable, especially during hot weather."

Defra said the situation was "simply not good enough."

"South East Water needs to go further and faster to reduce leaks and follow their drought plans to ensure supplies are not disrupted in even the driest of weather," a spokesperson added.

"Their new leadership must now deliver a step change in performance, where customers' needs are prioritised and there is a stop to supply outages."

One customer, Frazer Stodart, said: "I currently have eight people in the house and no water.

"I'm slightly annoyed after a large increase in bills - the least they should do is provide water."

David Ciechanski added: "It is getting a lot more common.

"We first had it a few months ago and there's now been one every three or four weeks across east Kent."

Pickard said: "We know we need to invest in certain areas and we are, but we can't do that overnight.

"I would love to say when all supplies will be back but it is an ongoing, changing picture."

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