Water returning to 1,380 properties after problems

Water is being restored to more than a thousand homes more than two days after disruption to supplies began.

As many as 1,388 properties faced problems, South East Water said, when interruptions began in the early hours of Friday in Benenden, Cranbrook and Rolvenden, all in Kent.

South East Water has blamed high water demand, fire service hydrant use and two recent water main bursts as the causes.

On Sunday it announced repairs to a burst main in Swattenden Lane had been completed and the system had been "recharged".

"The vast majority of customers in Benenden, Cranbrook and Rolvenden should now have their water supplies restored," the firm says.

"However, the multiple bursts in this part of the network in recent days, coupled with the low storage levels of drinking water, have caused airlocks within our system, which will take time to remove and have a slightly longer term impact for some customers."

A bottled water station, it said, was open at Weald Sports Centre, in Cranbrook.

SEW's Steve Benton said another burst on Swattenden Lane had also been fixed on Friday.

The beleaguered company has faced strong criticism over repeated incidents of water supply issues.

SEW's new boss John Halsall, had admitted the company "has not done well enough" to deliver safe and reliable water to customers.

The latest disruption follows a series of previous incidents, including more than 4,600 properties in Bredgar, Borden, Doddington and Teynham being affected earlier this month.

In July, thousands of properties in Heathfield and Sandy Cross, East Sussex, were either without water or had low pressure.

During the May bank holiday, 18,000 properties in several areas of Kent were affected, with the company blaming soaring temperatures for the increased demand.

Last month, SEW expanded the hosepipe ban to cover 2.4 million people across the south of England in response to record-breaking temperatures.

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