Over 8,000 affected by water supply disruption

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

The firm said its staff were exhausted and "pushed to limits" as they attempted to restore water to areas including Herne Bay, Blean and Brabourne.

It said problems in the Wraik Hill area had been resolved but the storage tank remained "critically low", while in Benenden and surrounding areas about 400 properties had low pressure or no water after pipe bursts and high demand during the hot weather.

The firm apologised to customers and warned that some might not see water supplies return for a few days.

Mike Pickard, incident support manager at the water company, told BBC South East: "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."

In Blean, Canterbury, South East Water said a technical issue meant it was unable to pump water. It said it was working hard to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

Overnight power issues left a further 200 properties in the Wraik Hill area of Whitstable without full supply, but the firm said supplies were expected to be restored on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, it said customers in the Herne Bay area affected by water supply issues on Sunday had supplies restored overnight.

However, it said the area was experiencing further problems on Monday morning as the drinking water storage tank which supplied the town remained critically low.

"We are doing everything we can to try to recharge the levels in the storage tank that feeds the area to try and make sure we can restore supplies as soon as possible," it said.

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."

SEW said bottled water stations would be open until 22:00 BST at:

• The Weald Sports Centre in Cranbrook
• Challock Village Hall
• Sainsbury's at Altira Business Park in Herne Bay
• Kavanagh Cinema in Herne Bay
• Wincheap Park and Ride in Canterbury

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