𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

South East Water faces losing its operating licence because residents across Kent and Sussex have been left without water for nearly a week.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds has called for regulator Ofwat to review the company’s operating licence.

But clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey said: “It’s not that Ofwat should review their licence it’s that the SoS should right now, today, this very moment, issue an enforcement order. Why is that not happening?”

The firm would fall into a special administration regime until a new buyer was found if it were to lose it.

Penalties could include a fine of 10% of the company’s annual turnover if Ofwat rules the company has breached its licence but decides not to revoke it.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that the latest supply failure, which has left about 17,000 properties without drinking water for a fifth day, was “totally unacceptable”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for the firm to be stripped of its licence for failing “over and over again”, during an exchange during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

He said: “Families, pensioners, schools, care homes and businesses without any water since Saturday, and the water company bosses involved now stand accused of misleading Parliament over their failures. South East Water keeps failing its customers over and over again. So will the Government immediately strip them of their licence?”

Sir Keir replied that the situation is “totally unacceptable”.

He said: “He will want to know that ministers have chaired daily emergency meetings to hold the company to account to deliver on the change that’s urgently needed at the moment in all the areas that he mentioned.

“We’ve also doubled the compensation rates for individuals and businesses and we’re absolutely clear the company must urgently invest in infrastructure and we’ll publish the water White Paper in due course.”

South East Water has blamed the latest supply failure, which comes after a similar incident in December, on Storm Goretti causing burst pipes and power cuts.

Kent County Council (KCC) said the vast majority of schools are open on Wednesday, although some may close early if they run out of water.

Some schools across Sussex have remained closed today, West Sussex County Council confirmed.

South East Water’s incident manager Matthew Dean said: “Once again, we are very sorry to all our customers who have been affected.

“We know and understand how difficult going without water for such a long period of time is and how difficult it makes everyday life.”

In a similar incident last month, 24,000 properties in and around Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were left without drinkable water for almost two weeks.