A council leader is seeking an urgent meeting with the CEO of a water company following days of residents being left without water.

People in the Wadhurst, Mayfield, Crowborough and Rotherfield areas have been experiencing supply issues for several days, with South East Water blaming higher demand and the recent dry spell for the problem.

A spokesman for the company- which has 2.2 million customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire – said it has seen demand soar as the temperature has risen, putting pressure on its network.

The company has apologised to customers.

“We're sorry to customers in the Wadhurst and Mayfield areas who are experiencing water supply issues,” the spokesman said.

“The demand for water is currently higher than the amount we can treat and supply to our customers. We're asking our customers to use water for essential use only while we build up our storage reserves.”

Now, the leader of Wealden District Council Councillor James Partridge wants an urgent meeting with the company’s CEO David Hinton.

A spokesman from Wealden District Council said: “We continue to support South East Water to monitor the on-going situation in the district and are keeping our residents informed by sharing communications from South East Water.

“The leader and deputy leader are seeking an urgent meeting with the CEO of South East Water to discuss this situation and raise the concerns of local residents directly with South East Water.”

But Councillor Ann Newton, who represents Framfield and Cross-in-Hand, has slammed the council for not declaring a major incident.

"Being what’s known as a category one responder, Wealden District Council could declare a major incident which would then bring in other agencies automatically, not least the county council and Sussex Resilience Forum," she said.

“The systems are in place for catastrophes such as this. The wheels need to be put in motion, now.”

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While MP for Wealden Nus Ghani said she will "keep piling the pressure on South East Water".

Schools have had to impose emergency closures due to a lack of water.

Green Lane Sixth Form at Beacon Academy, Crowborough,  has moved all Year 12 and 13 students to its Beeches site and Rotherfield Primary School had to close completely again today.

Water bottle stations are currently open until 9pm today at the following locations:

  • Rotherfield Village Hall, North St, RotherField, TN6 3LX
  • Mayfield Memorial Hall, Court Meadow, Tunbridge Wells Road, TN20 6PJ
  • Sparrows Green Recreation Ground, South View Rd., Wadhurst, East Sussex. TN5 6TW

South East Water’s operations director Douglas Whitfield said: “We’ve not had any significant rainfall since the end of April and this has put considerable pressure on our ability treat, pump and supply water to our all customers.

“Together with increased demand, this has impacted on the amount of treated water we have in our drinking water storage tanks across the regions.

“We’re asking our customers to commit to only using water that’s needed for essentials – things like drinking, cooking and hygiene. If we can all do that for the next few days, we will be able to refill the network much faster. “There’s lots of tips and advice on our website www.southeastwater.co.uk for how our customers can help us – and our communities - by using water wisely and making sure there is enough water for everyone this summer.”