Isle of Sheppey properties remain without water for third day

Bottled water collection points were set up as repairs began

Some properties on the Isle of Sheppey are without fresh water supplies for a third day, amid soaring temperatures.

Southern Water said supply has returned to "a vast majority of customers".

The outage began when a main burst on Tuesday morning, a second pipe then burst hours later, forcing the closure of 12 schools on Wednesday.

A water company spokesman said: "Demand remains extremely high so customers may continue to see low pressure as the situation returns to normal.

"We are optimistic that the remaining properties will have supply in the next few hours."

The company set up bottled water collection points across the island which will remain open.

The outage had affected 24,000 homes

Three bottled water collection points reopened on Thursday morning, and the company have confirmed they will remain open.

• Sports Direct, Neats Court Retail Park, ME11 5JS

• Leysdown Bootfair, Leysdown Road, ME12 4LR

• Tesco, Bridge Road, Sheerness, ME12 1RH

Earlier, Yvette Gutheil said unflushed toilets were "beginning to stink".

Keith Hitchins told the BBC: "Many here feel we're being fobbed off by Southern Water."

Kent County Council said all its public buildings on Sheppey would remain closed until water supplies were "fully restored".

The council said some schools remained closed, but Queenborough, Richmond, Thistle Hill, Rose Street and West Minster have all reopened.

The outage comes during a hot weather warning which is expected to stay in place until Tuesday.

Three prisons on the island - Elmley, Swaleside and Standford Hill - have their own water reserves and were unaffected by the leak, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman confirmed.

On Tuesday, a director from South East Water urged people only to use water for "essential" reasons as it was struggling to keep up with demand.

Southern Water has advised Isle of Sheppey residents to run taps for a few minutes if water is discoloured. If that doesn't work, turn the tap off, wait 20 minutes and try again, it said.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].