People told to only use water for essential use

Parts of Kent and Sussex have been affected by water supply issues

People have been asked to only use water for essential purposes as supply issues affect parts of Kent and Sussex, leaving some without water.

South East Water is asking customers to keep usage to essentials like drinking, cooking and hygiene to help refill the network.

The water company has blamed prolonged dry weather over the last six weeks on the pressure placed on local supply.

At least two schools have been forced to close as they have no water.

The supply issues are affecting Wadhurst, Staplehurst, Mayfield and Crowborough.

In a statement on Monday, the water company said the lack of "significant rainfall" since the end of April had put considerable pressure on their ability to "treat, pump and supply water".

The company tweeted: "Over the weekend we treated and pumped enough water to supply an additional 4 towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne."

Douglas Whitfield, director of operations at South East water, said: "We currently have about 500 properties without water.

"We do expect that number to increase as we go through peak demand this evening, and then should reduce overnight."

Vicky Cheeseman, a manager at Rotherfield St Martin, a local charity which supports elderly people, said many residents were not on social media and were unaware of the water outage.

"Word's getting round the village quite quickly and they are beginning to panic and worry about how they are going to get water," she said.

Ms Cheeseman said some residents on the priority register have received bottles of water but they were so big they were unable to open or carry them.

In a tweet, the Conservative MP for Wealden in East Sussex, Nus Ghani, described the situation as "woeful".

Two schools in East Sussex, Beacon Academy in Crowborough and Rotherfield Primary School, have been forced to close due to no water.

Kate Bishop, headteacher of Rotherfield Primary School, said she was forced to close the school on Monday afternoon and had been unable to re-open on Tuesday.

“We have 275 children and staff within the school and we just couldn't maintain hygiene standards or keep them hydrated in the hot weather,” she said.

Ms Bishop said parents had been “really understanding”.

“Obviously if this goes on for much longer, then, understandably, there'll be some frustrations.

"They won't be able to go to work and the children need to be in school. It's important for them to be in and learning,” she added.

Bottled water stations in Rotherfield Village Hall in Crowborough, Mayfield Memorial Hall in Mayfield and at Headcorn Aerodrome have been opened

South East Water experienced supply issues in December 2022 after pipes burst due to snow and ice thawing rapidly overnight, leaving thousands of households across Kent and Sussex without water before Christmas.

Louise Ellis, from Rotherfield, said her water went off on Monday afternoon. She said the recurring water issues were "highly frustrating".

"Here we are again, not knowing when it's going to come back on," she said.

Ms Ellis and her husband live with their 96-year-old mother-in-law.

"She's quite worried. She's of sound mind and everything, but that sort of thing worries her," she said.

"She struggles and the heat is not helping. She's quite wobbly today."

A government minister told the provider it "must act urgently" to significantly improve its performance.