Send army into Tunbridge Wells to fix water crisis, Starmer told
Why there are calls to send the army in to fix town’s water crisis
- A major incident was declared after 30,000 properties in Kent and Sussex experienced water supply outages, attributed by South East Water (SEW) to Storm Goretti and cold weather causing burst pipes.
- Thousands of homes in areas including Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, and Maidstone were still affected, marking the second such outage in two months for Tunbridge Wells.
- Residents and a community group, Dry Wells Action, have urged the government to deploy the army to assist with logistics and restore water supplies.
- Multiple MPs have called for the removal of SEW's chief executive, David Hinton, citing repeated failings, with Water Minister Emma Hardy stating the situation 'beggars belief'.
- Ofwat has an active investigation into South East Water's supply resilience and is reviewing evidence for potential further enforcement action regarding customer care.