Bottles of water had to be handed out and food businesses were advised to close after the water supply to parts of Medway was affected by a power failure.

Customers of Southern Water in the Cliffe, Strood, Wainscott, Hoo and Upnor areas found themselves with low water pressure or discoloured water yesterday.

The problem was caused by a power supply failure at Burham water treatment works.

Food businesses were advised to close if they could not operate safely without fresh water as staff would be unable to wash their hands, or clean and disinfect utensils and equipment which may have resulted in contamination.

Teams worked through the night to restore power and the site is expected to be back to full operating capacity this afternoon.

A spokesman said: “We’re pleased to say our customers in Cliffe, Strood, Wainscott, Hoo and Upnor areas should now all be back in supply following power supply issues at our Burham Water Supply Works.

“We received 50 no water calls and we are still investigating how many homes were affected.

“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience yesterday while we worked hard to fix the issue and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”