Surrey: Thames Water pledges faster updates on supply issues

Bottled water stations handed out emergency supplies to residents

A water company has promised to provide better updates to customers if supplies are disrupted as they were in Surrey a week ago.

Thames Water operations director Danny Leamon was speaking after thousands were left with little or no water due to a fault at a treatment plant.

One affected customer said the "shambolic" firm's contact had been "dire, almost non-existent".

Mr Leamon admitted: "The communication has clearly not been acceptable."

Up to 12,000 people around Godalming and Guildford were affected by a problem at the Shalford sewage treatment works after Storm Ciarán.

The county's local resilience forum declared a major incident after people were forced to queue at bottled water stations, schools were shut and hospitals received emergency supplies.

Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows said at the time it had been a "challenge" to get "basic information" for residents.

People queued for bottled water at a car park in Godalming after their supplies ran dry

Speaking to BBC Surrey, Gwynne Hamlen, from Bramley, said: "The management that Thames Water demonstrated has been shambolic.

"Their communication have been absolutely dire. Almost non-existent, sometimes misleading.

Thames Water has apologised for the disruption to residents and businesses.

Mr Leamon told BBC Surrey: "We need to work on how we can improve our communication on our website [and] on social media, to make sure it is more accurate... more timely, with more regular updates.

He said all properties were back in supply as far as he was aware, but urged anyone that still had low pressure or no water to get in touch.

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