People in Maidstone are being asked to use water sparingly is in place after a burst main, coupled with high demand, left supplies low.

South East Water was forced to apologise after homes in parts of Maidstone were left with no supply on the hottest day of the year, with bottled water provided at a leisure centre.

Today is expected to be another scorcher with temperatures reaching 28 degrees early this afternoon in the town.

The burst main, on a pipeline in Detling, was fixed during the night, but left the company's underground storage tanks, which contain treated drinking water for short periods before flowing to customers' taps, at low levels.

South East Water is asking residents in Linton, Bearsted and Boughton Monchelsea to only use water for drinking, cooking, washing and flushing toilets and not in the garden.

This will ensure there is enough water in the system for tonight when demand for tap water is high.

'We're working extremely hard to extract, treat and pump as much water into the system as possible...'

Steve Andrews, South East Water’s incident manager, said: “Our repair team worked extremely hard in challenging conditions overnight to complete the complex repair on the burst pipe at Detling.

“While they have done a superb job ensuring our customers in Maidstone wake up to water this morning, the burst, coupled with extremely high demand for water due to the hot weather yesterday, has left our treated water storage tanks in the area low.

“We’re working extremely hard to extract, treat and pump as much water into the system as possible today, but to help make sure there is enough water for all, we’re asking people in the Bearsted, Linton and Boughton Monchelsea areas of Maidstone to only use water for essential use today and not in their gardens.

“I am sorry to all customers affected by the burst last night and I would like to thank them for their ongoing patience today while we work to refill the area’s drinking water network.”