Water from the temporary mobile tankers has to be boiled

The problem has come as temperatures in the region reached the high 20s on one of the hottest days of the year so far.

South East Water has been providing bottled water to customers and has put mobile water tanks in nine locations in Sussex.

Mains supplies have had to be switched off twice to help water levels in the reservoir rise to normal levels.

The problem is expected to be resolved by Tuesday night.

There's a limit to how much water you can get through a very long pipe that goes up to a village that's high up on the Weald Trevor Bishop, Mid Kent Water

South East Water said the water main at Flimwell Reservoir burst on Monday leading to low pressure, which meant it had to cut off services on Monday night and again on Tuesday morning to allow the reservoir to fill up again.

Water from other nearby reservoirs, with healthy supplies, has been used in some areas, but there have been some problems pumping water to villages on high land on the Weald.

Mid Kent Water spokesman Trevor Bishop said: "What we have is very high demand by the public, particularly people using things like sprinklers and hose pipes in their gardens.

"There's a limit to how much water you can get through a very long pipe that goes up to a village that's high up on the Weald."

At Hurst Green, the village's primary school was closed, and some pupils were helping to hand out bottles of water which South East Water had delivered to the village hall.

The school is one of the places a mobile water tanker has been stationed, but water from those has to be boiled before it is used so school staff took the decision to close for the day.

South East Water and Mid Kent Water say the actions are all normal procedure for dealing with a burst main and that nobody should panic.