5,000 homes hit as South East Water main bursts

About 5,000 properties in parts of Kent are experiencing water supply issues after a burst pipe from a treatment works site.

South East Water customers in Pembury, Matfield, Brenchley, Horsmonden and the surrounding areas are experiencing low pressure or no water due to a fault on a key main from Bewl Water Treatment Works in East Sussex.

The water firm said ongoing repairs were "proving to be more complex than expected", but added that it anticipated that all customers would have supplies returned by Thursday evening, "if all goes to plan".

Regulator Ofwat opened an investigation into South East Water in January after repeated water supply failures to thousands of homes.

Bottled water stations have opened at Matfield Village Hall and Tesco Superstore in Pembury. These will remain open until 21:00 BST.

Deliveries of bottled water to vulnerable customers are also being arranged.

Lamberhurst St Mary's Church of England VC Primary School has closed as it has no access to hot water.

"As a result of these issues, it is not safe for us to remain open," the school said in a statement.

Pembury Primary School has also closed.

Craig Hammond, who runs a butchers in Matfield, said he was anticipating having to close its doors.

"As a business, it can be devastating to have no water. But as a butchers, it's impossible for hygiene reasons," he said.

"Easter is our second busiest time of year and we need to stay open otherwise we can't sell fresh produce."

Robert Thompson, from Lamberhurst Quarter, said he had little confidence in South East Water.

"Our supply goes off all the time," he said.

"So much so that my neighbours and I have all got 25 litre containers full ready to flush toilets in an emergency. It's not good enough."

Steve Benton, incident manager for South East Water, said the delay in repairs had caused water levels in the area's storage tanks to fall.

"This will mean that customers in a larger area will lose their water supply shortly," they added.

"We're really sorry to those of you who are experiencing low water pressure or no water at the moment.

"Our teams have been working through the night, but the repair is proving to be more complex than expected."

Last month, South East Water chief executive David Hinton told councillors in East Sussex that the widespread supply failures earlier this year had been the result of freeze-thaw conditions causing burst pipes, followed by Storm Goretti.

Some 30,000 properties had no water at the height of the issues, with many taps dry for multiple days, during which Hinton had faced calls to resign.

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