Parts of a town are without or have little water due to a burst main.

There is a large leak in Sovereign Way, Tonbridge, which has caused disruption for people living nearby and caused schools to close this morning.

Hillview School for Girls, in Brionne Gardens, told parents that students will be moving to remote learning today.

Head teacher Hilary Burkett said: “Due to the current water issues in Tonbridge, the school is without water and is unable to offer access to toilets or drinking water.”

Royal Rise Primary School, in Royal Rise, has also been forced to shut and move teaching online.

A spokesman said: “Due to a burst water main near the school, there is intermittent water in the area. South East Water has just alerted us that it will be shutting off the water in the whole of the TN9 area.

“Regrettably this means that the school will be shut today.”

The issue is at the roundabout linking Sovereign Way and Avenue De Puy and closures have been in place since around 6am while assessments were made by South East Water engineers.

The water company admitted it had received reports in “recent weeks” of a leak in the area, but when they visited on Friday, September 29, they couldn’t find any mains leaks.

A spokesman said: “Water was found to be coming from an old duct that looked to be broken, but we tested this water and the results showed this was not mains water.

The leak that we are dealing with today in Sovereign Way happened overnight and we were notified of this leak in the early hours of this morning by police.

South East Water’s distribution manager Mark Rice added: “We are so sorry to our customers in the Tonbridge area who have been having water supply issues today (Wednesday).

“We received a call about a leak at the roundabout linking Sovereign Way and Avenue De Puy just before 6am and our technicians have been on site this morning carrying out investigations and repair work.

“An emergency road closure is currently in place and the closure will remain to allow for repair work and reinstatement of the road. We will look to complete this work as quickly and as safely as possible to try to minimise disruption.

“There is also traffic management in place in Tonbridge for separate repair work, which is likely to cause congestion.

“Three-way traffic lights are currently in operation in Bordyke and Hadlow Road as we repair a leak in the carriageway, with the road due to be reinstated and re-opened tomorrow.

“We apologise for the inconvenience or delay these works may cause.”

In an update to residents, the water company said some customers were experiencing low water pressure and water had been re-routed through its network to reinstate water supplies.

It added: “ As soon as repairs have been completed, your water will return to normal.

“We cannot say just yet how long this will take but please rest assured we are doing everything we can to get you back up and running as soon as possible.”

According to Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling, the water leak was reported to the firm “weeks ago”. He added: “It is yet to be fixed, and another springing on Monday. Please fix this urgently.”

Kent county councillor for Tonbridge Mark Hood (Green) also told KentOnline the leak was reported a few weeks ago and said it should have been fixed before it became a massive problem like it now is.

He added: “Why has there been such a delay in getting South East Water to assess the problem when we reported it on its website. Now we have this massive issue in the middle of the town.

“It has been massively frustrating. They need to be more proactive. We let them know early so we can sort it out early.

“I have been told the junction is now going to be out of action for well over a week.”

South East Water has been asked to confirm when the leak was first reported.