South East Water licence to be reviewed after supply chaos

South East Water is set to have its licence reviewed after thousands of people in Kent and Sussex have faced days of supply chaos.

Issues began on Saturday, with the water company blaming Storm Goretti and a power supply failure at its pumping station.

By Wednesday night, about 8,000 properties in Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead were still without water, and there were further localised issues affecting other parts of Kent, the firm said.

It has apologised repeatedly, adding that it was working hard to "restore supplies as quickly as possible".

As it happened: Small firms fear going bust as water woes drag on

The government announced on Wednesday that it would ask the regulator Ofwat to review South East Water's licence.

Ofwat can take its licence away, however the threshold is incredibly high.

"We will review all of the evidence before taking a decision on what further action may be required," the regulator said.

The government is obliged to give water companies at least 25 years' notice before it can terminate a licence.

South East Water said it would "always fully co-operate with any investigation by our regulators and provide any information required".

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the situation was "clearly totally unacceptable".

He added that ministers had chaired daily emergency meetings during the crisis to "hold the company to account".

"We're absolutely clear: the company must urgently invest in infrastructure," he added.

After 21:00 GMT on Wednesday, South East Water was reporting eight ongoing interruptions across its network.

Affected areas included Tunbridge Wells, Lenham and Maidstone in Kent, as well as East Grinstead and Seaford in East Sussex.

Several schools have been forced to close since Monday due to the ongoing water supply problems.

One headteacher in Kingwood previously told BBC Radio Kent that she was having to spend the school's budget on supermarket water.

South East Water said affected customers in Tunbridge Wells would wake up to a consistent water supply from Friday morning.

However, it added that the supply will be turned off for 6,500 customers in the area, who will be without water until that point.

Those hit by disruption in East Grinstead are set to get water back on Thursday morning, according to the company.

The Abergavenny Arms pub in Frant told the BBC that it feared it would "go bust" if the water issues continue.

"It's killing us small businesses," a spokesperson said.

Ekrem Agveve, manager of restaurant Twenty Nine in East Grinstead, told BBC Radio Sussex how water issues were affecting his business.

"It will take minimum three months to recover from this," he said.

"We're down £6,000 or £7,000. Saturday and Sunday are our busiest days and we were closed."

Isha Chadha, from Tunbridge Wells, said her daughter's nursery closed early on Wednesday, and her son's after-school activities had been cancelled because of the water issues.

"It is so stressful and so frustrating because you just can't plan your day," she said.

The mother-of-two said she was only getting water at her home between about 07:30 and 10:30 every morning.

"We are just struggling to get everything done within those few hours," she said.

"It's just not fair. Families are struggling."

South East Water previously said some of the issues were connected to the recent cold weather and a subsequent breakout of leaks and bursts across the area that left drinking water storage tanks running low.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate has launched an investigation into the company over the crisis.

South East Water is already under two separate investigations.

Several MPs and officials have called for South East Water boss David Hinton to step down or to be removed from his role.

Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaren has criticised the firm for "systematic and repeated" failures under his leadership.

"I am afraid that heads must roll," she said.

Hinton earns a base salary of £400,000 and was paid a £115,000 bonus for his work in 2025.

A South East Water spokesperson said Hinton remained "committed to resolving the immediate issues facing customers, whilst continuing to seek to obtain investment to deliver much needed improvements".

Six bottled stations were open on Wednesday across East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells.

South East Water said it had made 25,000 deliveries to customers on our Priority Services Register.

However, one man – who was recovering from a spine injury – told the BBC that he had not received any water, despite being on the list.

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