Criticism over Surrey water disruption in heatwave

People queued for water on one of the hottest days of the year

People in parts of Surrey are gradually having water supplies returned, but a councillor said Thames Water had "failed" its customers.

About 7,000 people had their supplies cut off on Saturday due to technical issues during pipe replacements at Netley Mill Water Treatment Works.

Surrey county councillor Liz Townsend said people were "annoyed", adding "the service is not fit for purpose".

Thames Water apologised and thanked customers for their patience.

The Lib Dem representative for Cranleigh and Ewhurst, where some of the problems have occurred, said: "We're no strangers to water loss. We've had interruptions to supplies in February and July and one village has had three interruptions this year alone.

"This is happening more and more, and the service is not fit for purpose, and residents are rightly getting very annoyed."

Liz Townsend said vulnerable people had complained they were not being delivered water

Swathes of people queued at three bottled water stations in soaring temperatures on Saturday, amid a drought and amber weather warnings from the Met Office.

Ms Townsend added: "Thames Water are meant to be delivering water to vulnerable people, but that system broke down. I was getting messages from people who had not been delivered any water."

A spokeswoman for Thames Water said: "We're very sorry if you have no water or low pressure. We know this has been incredibly disruptive during the very hot weather.

"Supplies are gradually starting to return to the area and this will continue throughout the day. As they return, you may experience low water pressure to begin with, especially if you live higher up.

"Our engineers are busy identifying and unblocking air pockets in the system, to help get supplies back to normal as quickly as possible."

Three bottled water stations remain open at Cranleigh Leisure Centre in Village Way, Surrey Hills Business Park and Gomshall Village Sports and Social Club.

The postcodes that had been affected were GU5, GU6, RH4, RH5 and RH12.

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