Skip to content

Thousands face water supply misery after pipe bursts

Joshua AskewSouth East
BBC A flooded residential road. BBC
Up to 2,500 homes are affected, South East Water said

Thousands of homes in Kent have been hit with water supply disruption after a burst pipe, which caused water to gush out onto the street.

South East Water (SEW) said more than 2,500 customers in the Tonbridge area had low pressure or no water at about 15:00 BST after a "large pipe burst" on Shipbourne Road at 07:15.

The company warned residents and businesses that due to the "very complex" nature of the repairs, it did not expect the pipe to be fixed "until sometime overnight tonight".

"We're very sorry," said SEW incident manager Robert Anthony-Scorse. "The repair team is on-site now and working hard to repair this significant burst."

SEW said in a statement it was working to distribute to more properties by changing the way water flows around its network in the town.

A total of 3,200 properties had been hit with water issues earlier shortly after the burst, it said.

Anthony-Scorse said the company had identified all elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers on its Priority Services Register affected by this burst who would receive bottled water.

SEW had set up two bottled water stations, one at Sovereign Way East Car Park, and the other at Tonbridge Farm Sports Centre, Darenth Avenue. Both will remain open until 22:00 BST.

Leakages

It comes on a day of hot weather in Tonbridge with highs of 26C expected.

Kent is currently in what the government calls "prolonged dry weather" - the step before a drought - owing to the recent lack of rainfall and scorching temperatures.

SEW announced a hosepipe ban in July, affecting 2.4 million people across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire.

Figures recently revealed that SEW was wasting more than 100 million litres of water per day – equivalent to around 500 million cups of tea - through leakages.

The company said at the time it was working hard to reduce leakage across its network.

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.