Water returns after leak hit thousands of homes

Water is returning to thousands of homes in Kent after two days of disruption.

On Saturday, South East Water (SEW) said parts of the Tonbridge area had no water or low pressure after a large pipe burst on Shipbourne Road, causing water to gush out on to the street.

About 7,600 properties were affected at the peak of the problem, which dropped to some 2,500 homes by Sunday afternoon.

On Monday morning, a SEW spokesperson said: "The repair is now complete and we are slowly restoring water to the area."

They said the water had to be restored "in a controlled way to prevent any further issues".

"Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before all customer supplies are fully restored," they added.

The firm previously said repairs had proved complex due to an overnight equipment failure and the presence of high-voltage electrical cables near the burst main.

Some residents complained of possible "hygiene risks" during the weekend outage, which left them unable to "flush toilets or shower".

Bottled water stations are still open at Sovereign Way East Car Park and Tonbridge Farm Sports Centre "if required", said SEW.

However, it added there were still "ongoing interruptions" to the service in other parts of the county, including Bidborough in Tunbridge Wells, where customers "may still be experiencing low water pressure this morning".

And, in Ulcombe in Maidstone, impacted properties are being supported by SEW "tankering and injecting water directly into the local supply network".

While this happens Windmill Hill will remain closed, with diversions in place.

The issues come amid a period of prolonged hot and dry weather, alongside a hosepipe ban for 2.4 million SEW customers.

The firm, which has come under fire in recent months after multiple water supply failures in Kent and Sussex, recently urged people in those areas not to use water other than when necessary, as there was a shortage of supplies.

Some 24,000 SEW customers had no water supply or low pressure between November and December and just weeks later up to 30,000 households faced days of water misery.

Recent data from the watchdog Ofwat found SEW was wasting more than 100 million litres of water per day through leakages.

Last week, the firm's new boss John Halsall said he faced a "huge challenge" in improving SEW's performance and reputation.

He took over from David Hinton, who earned £400,000 and was awarded a £115,000 bonus in 2024.

Ofwat also recently proposed fining the firm £22m over issues affecting 286,000 people in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023.

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