Water supplies returning after burst main caused outages

Water supplies are beginning to return to about 2,500 properties in East Sussex following a suspected burst main.

South East Water (SEW) said the burst had been causing issues to customers in Hampden Park and Eastbourne on Thursday, adding it had attempted to reroute water within its network to minimise disruption.

SEW said it was working with Eastbourne District General Hospital to ensure it had supply, with tankers on hand to supply the site.

Several schools, including The Eastbourne Academy, The Lindfield School and Parkland Junior School had to close due to having no water.

A SEW spokesperson said water should be returning to customers' taps after it carried out valve operations at a nearby site to resolve the issue/

"However, customers on higher ground will experience a longer delay," they added.

"We anticipate that all customers will have their water returned by this evening."

The firm also apologised because its text messaging system was not working on Thursday due to a technical issue, which was being investigated.

When supplies return, water may be cloudy or white, but customers should run cold water through until it looks normal again, SEW added.

On Tuesday, SEW chief executive David Hinton appeared before Parliament for a second time after supply issues in December and January in parts of Sussex and Kent.

He admitted to MPs that the firm "failed" customers when severe supply issues caused misery to people over winter in two separate incidents - one involving 24,000 properties and the other affecting up to 30,000.

Hinton, who earns a base salary of £400,000, has surrendered his bonus for the upcoming year.

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