Emergency bottled water 'delivered and then taken away again' - as thousands remain with no supply

The company has faced heavy scrutiny recently after thousands of homes in Kent and Sussex were left without water Footage taken from a resident's doorbell footage appears to show the worker delivering the water before making off. Picture: Facebook This is the moment a worker delivering emergency water for residents in the South East appears to drop off a delivery of emergency bottled water before picking it up again and leaving. A video which has been shared widely online shows a man wearing a high-vis jacket and head torch carrying packs of bottled water, which he leaves at the front door of a property in Tunbridge Wells, in darkness. However in an unexplained move, he then appears to step back to take a photograph of the drop, before picking the bottles up again and taking them to a different door.He can then be seen to repeat the process, before making off up the driveway carrying some of the water. Read more: Regulator launches probe into South East Water after tens of thousands left without suppliesRead more: South East Water: Who owns the supplier that’s landed in hot water?The Facebook user wrote: "So [SEW] said that they would deliver water last night, woke up to no water and then saw this footage from my doorbell showing them delivering it, taking a photo and then taking it away again."It comes as Ofwat launched its own probe into SEW after a series of outages that have left tens of thousands without water across Kent and Sussex.The outage left at least 17,000 properties without water earlier this week, after Tunbridge Wells suffered another sustained outage in November and December, where 24,000 properties were affected.A spokesperson for South East Water (SEW) said the company had used a "third party" during its emergency response, but added it was "very concerned" and confirmed an investigation was underway.Commenting on the video, one social media user said: "Laughable.. SEW is finito." South East Water staff hand out bottled water at a water station in Maidstone, earlier this week. Picture: Alamy Another wrote: "Would like to say unbelievable. But it's not these days," and another said: "South Eastern Water is already in so much trouble. "MPs demand for their licence to be revoked. And for the CEO to resign. This adds up to their behaviour."In a statement, the company thanked residents for raising issues. South East Water staff handing out emergency water to residents. Picture: Alamy It said: "We're very concerned about the stories and videos being shared on social media regarding the bottled water and grab bag deliveries in Tunbridge Wells."Due to the scale of the operation to deliver to all affected customers, we were supported by a third party company. We are investigating these claims immediately."We'd like to thank customers for sharing their experiences to make us aware." David Hinton, the chief executive of South East Water (SEW) appearing before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, earlier this month. Picture: Alamy Earlier this month, SEW chief David Hinton was grilled by MPs for his company’s handling of that crisis. He told a parliamentary committee that "lifestyle changes" caused by the pandemic may have contributed to the mounting supply issues.He added: "The southeast of England is particularly hit with climate change impacts. We've had just continued growth in housing forever, and this has meant demand has got very close to our ability to supply."

View Original Article