MP Wants Water Boss to Resign

The Tunbridge Wells MP, Mike Martin, has called for the boss of South East Water to resign, as disruption to fresh water supplies in the town continued into Tuesday.

24,000 properties in Tunbridge Wells lost their water supply on Sunday.

As of 8am on Tuesday, only 10,000 homes have had their supply restored and 14,000 remain without their usual supply.

Mike Martin MP has branded South East Water’s emergency response as “chaotic” and condemned the company's “woeful communication.”  

Mike Martin said on Monday night that he wanted the Chief Executive of South East Water, David Hinton, to resign for showing - what he called - a "a total failure of leadership."

On Tuesday morning, Mike Martin said on X (formerly Twitter): "Dave Hinton rang me up last night and ranted at me whining that I was holding him accountable. Utterly pathetic performance from someone so highly paid. I am reaching out to the Minister for Water today."

Mike Martin also said he was unclear whether the bottled water stations were opening on Tuesday morning as promised.

In his statement on Monday, Mike Martin MP said:  “When I was elected last year, David Hinton gave personal and public assurances that the lessons of previous water outages in Tunbridge Wells had been learnt.  

"In 2022, water was cut off for 6 days over Christmas; we’ve been here before and he vowed to fix things so it couldn’t happen again. We now know that is not true.  

"From the failure to provide sufficient resilience in the local network, to the terrible communications with the community, to putting in place any emergency response plan – the CEO hasn’t kept his promises to the people of Tunbridge Wells. David Hinton must resign, and if he had any integrity he would do so immediately. “  

Mike Martin also points out that initially residents in Tunbridge Wells were told to collect bottled water from another town. Then bottled water stations were only set up in central Tunbridge Wells on Mike Martin MP’s instigation.  

The Liberal Democrat MP said “this incident has caused chaos, anger and anxiety for people. Primary and secondary schools are closed. GP surgeries and civil buildings are closed. Businesses have been unable to trade on one of the busiest trading days of the year. Restaurants and hotels have lost thousands of pounds.  

"Care homes and vulnerable people have been left without water for hours, with many contacting the Tunbridge Wells MP personally to get bottled water delivered to them because South East Water’s phone lines were too busy.   Roads have also been gridlocked for hours as people queued to access water distribution sites."

Listen to Mike Martin's live interview with West Kent Radio on Monday morning.

The latest update from South East Water can be found here:
https://aqualerter.southeastwater.co.uk/interruption/138030

The update at 8.45am on Tue 2nd Dec 2025 was:

"We're very sorry to customers in Tunbridge Wells who are continuing to experience issues with their water supply, including low pressure and no water.

"We are recharging the network in the Tunbridge Wells area and we have returned 10,000 properties into supply overnight. Recharging the network needs to be done slowly to protect the network from bursts as water returns to the pipes. Some of those customers who have had their tap water restored may currently be experiencing intermittent supplies while we balance the network.

"We have teams out and about clearing air pockets as we become aware of them. As water returns to customers' taps, it may appear discoloured or cloudy. Please be assured this poses no risk to health. Discolouration happens when naturally-occurring deposits, which settle and build up within our network of water mains over time, are disturbed.

"Simply run their cold water tap until the water turns clear. Once it does, the tap water remains perfectly safe for drinking, washing and cooking.

"Bottled water stations are now open at:
Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, St John's Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN4 9TX and
Odeon Cinema Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW.

The bottled water station at RCP Parking, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 5TP will re-open at 9:15 am.