‘Major incident’ declared in Kent and Sussex as tens of 1000’s left with out water

A major incident has been declared in Kent and Sussex as households are left without water and schools are forced to close – around 30,000 properties have been affected

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A major incident has been declared in Kent and Sussex as households are left without water . Schools have also been forced to close in the area.

South East Water (SEW) said a number of issues were to blame, including Storm Goretti and a power cut at its pumping plant. It said 14 postcodes were still affected around the East Grinstead, Frant and Tunbridge Wells areas.

Collection points for bottled water have been set up and some customers have been told their supply may not return until Tuesday, according to the BBC. South East Water said there were about 30,000 impacted properties across the two counties.

On X, Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: “A major incident has now been declared on the basis that more households and settings have been impacted in the last 24 hours and because we are putting additional arrangements in place to prepare for further potential disruption.”

In a statement on Monday morning SEW said: “We are sorry that customers in East Grinstead and the surrounding areas have had no water or intermittent supply over the weekend.

“We’re are working hard to restore supplies but regrettably, this situation has not improved as much as we would have liked and we anticipate that the reservoir is unlikely to return to a level where your supplies will return until tomorrow (Tuesday 13th).”

Meanwhile, a number of schools in Kent and Sussex have announced they will be closed for the day due to the situation.

In East Sussex, the schools and preschools closed include Ashurst Wood Primary, Ashurst Wood Community preschool, Imberhorne both, Blackwell and Escots, Brambletye School, Tiny Tigers, Jack and Jill preschool, Little Gemz Nursery, Sackville, The Meads, Paddington Pre-school, St Peter’s Primary and Jaybees.

In Kent, the schools that have announced they will shut for the day include Lower Street in Leeds, Ulcombe C of E Primary School and Speldhurst in Tunbridge Wells.

And in East Grinstead, the libraries at King Centre and Chequer Mead are also closed.

The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead said it aims to carry out as many appointments as possible, but some may take place virtually instead.

SEW water said bottled water stations will be open from 9am at:

• Kings Centre – Moat Rd, East Grinstead RH19 3LN
• East Grinstead Sports Club – Saint Hill Rd, East Grinstead RH19 4JU
• East Court, College Lane, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3LT

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