Wadhurst school left 'frustrated' as it remains closed for third day due to water shortages

Tap to watch video report by ITV Meridian's Joe Coshan

A school, which remains closed due to water shortages, says it is "frustrated" that it does not know when it can reopen.

Sacred Heart School in Wadhurst is one of the thousands of customers continuing to experience low to no water pressure in East Sussex and Kent amid the heatwave.

South East Water customers in Cranbrook, Biddenden, Rotherfield, Mayfield and Wadhurst have been affected due to a burst pipe, low rainfall and an increase in demand due to the hot weather.

Antonia Gabriel, Acting Head at Sacred Heart School in Wadhurst said it cannot operate without water and was forced to close on Monday (12 June).

Ms Gabriel said: "The children weren't able to fill up their water bottles, they couldn't wash their hands, and we can't flush the toilets.

"It's just not possible to operate as a school without water. Parents are relying on us to keep the school open but we just can't do it so it's very very frustrating."

The school said it contacted South East Water for an update on Tuesday morning (13 June) but has not had a callback.

Ms Gabriel added: "It's been very difficult, we've got some exciting things planned to happen on Friday.

"We are planning a foundation stage assembly for all our parents. So parents have taken the day off to be able to come and watch. We've got sports day. We have a Summer fair after school.

"We're just not sure any of these things will be able to happen. It is very very frustrating."

"We just would love to know when the water will be back on so that we can open the school again."

South East Water’s Incident Manager Nick Bell said: “The situation overnight is stable and we are working hard to make sure that continues and our underground storage reservoirs refill.

“We are very sorry to all our customers who are currently without water or with low pressure.

“The issues have been caused by very high demand for tap water during this hot spell and we are having to pump more drinking water to customers’ taps than normal.

“We’ve got every water treatment work, every water source open and running at 100 per cent. Even with this, we can’t keep up with customer demand.

“We know this is a difficult time for customers affected and among those are schools which have had to close. We are doing all we can to restore supplies, which is why we are asking our customers to use water for essential tasks only, such as cooking, cleaning and hygiene.

“This will enable the storage reservoirs to refill so we can return supplies to everyone.”

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