Water restored for properties after schools shut

Water issues impacting about 1,700 properties in an area of Kent have been resolved, South East Water (SEW) has said.

Shortly after 04:00 GMT on Thursday, the company said some people had low pressure or no water in the Horsmonden and Lamberhurst area, which SEW later explained was due to a technical issue at its Bewl Water Treatment Works.

The issues caused Lamberhurst St Mary's Primary School and Leigh Academy Horsmonden to close in the morning. However, they reopened when water returned.

Nick Bell, SEW's head of supply in Kent, was expecting the issue to be resolved by mid-morning and at about 13:00 the company said supplies had been restored for all customers.

Bell said that the issues had been caused by the drinking water storage tank for the area dropping to a low level.

At about 09:30, Victoria House Stores in Lamberhurst sold its last bottles of water.

Local resident Stephen Douglas said: "It's okay at the moment, but we're all going to be scrambling for water soon."

The water firm told residents that there might be "harmless" discoloration of supplies.

The issues come less than a month after David Hinton, the chief executive of SEW, vowed to turn around the under-fire water firm after politicians called for him to resign and for him to be denied his bonus after multiple supply issues in Kent and Sussex over recent months.

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