Broadstairs: Long queues form for bottled water after pipes burst

Long queues formed outside a bottled water station in Broadstairs on Monday night, as thousands of properties across Kent and Sussex suffered water supply problems.

The outages were caused by pipes bursting due to snow and ice thawing rapidly as temperatures rose following a spell of severe cold weather.

On Monday, Southern Water said 20,000 customers were affected, while on Tuesday South East Water said about 15,000 still had "intermittent" supplies.

Both utility companies have apologised to customers as work continued to restore water supplies to the households and businesses affected.

20 December 2022