Southern Water says every effort is being made to prevent loss of water supplies for thousands of homes in Swale as its teams work on a "potential issue" at a water supply works in the area.

Borough councillors shared a warning from the company with residents earlier this evening, adding that the council had offered up two sites where bottled water could be handed out, if supply was lost.

An email sent to Swale councillors by Emma Wiggins, director of regeneration at Swale council, said: "Just to let you know that Southern Water have just this minute contacted us

"They have a turbidity incident effecting their sites. Currently all customers are still in water supply.

"However they are concerned that they may lose water supply to 90,000 customers at 9am on Friday 8th January. To the following post codes ME9/ME10/ME11/ME12.

"They have asked us to help supply sites so they can deliver bottled water if supply is lost – we will be offering Beach Street Car Park and Swallows Car Park.

"They will also contact Eastchurch village Hall themselves. They will be keeping us updated."

Turbidity refers to the cloudiness or haziness of a liquid.

Swale councillor Mike Baldock, who is the authority's deputy leader, shared the information on his Facebook page in order for residents to be prepared.

He said: "Hopefully nothing will come of it, but it's best to be prepared."

Postcodes mentioned in the email cover Bobbing, Iwade, Sittingbourne, Kemsley, Tunstall, Queenborough, Minster-on-Sea, Rushenden, Sheerness, Leysdown-on-Sea, Eastchurch and other areas.

Concerned residents were left confused by the lack of official information from Southern Water, with no sign of any incidents in Swale listed on the company's website or social media accounts.

"As part of our incident response to operational issues we always plan for the worst possible case."

While some fellow Swale councillors also shared the warning, including members of the opposition Tory group, others questioned where the warning had come from.

Commenting on Facebook, Cllr Cameron Beart (Con), said: "I have spoken to my contact at Southern Water this evening who is investigating where this information has come from as it is not something their stakeholder engagement team are aware of."

At about 9.20pm, Southern Water released a statement confirming that its teams were dealing with a potential issue at a water supply works in the Swale area and would work until the situation was resolved.

However, it appears that the warning shared by councillors about loss of supplies could have been premature.

The statement continued: "Our priority is to ensure the supply of wholesome water to customers in line with the stringent regulation standards we must uphold.

"As part of our incident response to operational issues we always plan for the worst possible case.

"We take early steps to ensure our partners, including those in local authorities, are aware if there is even a small possibility of an interruption to supply.

"Should it become necessary to put local residents and businesses on alert for a temporary loss of water supply, we will do that at the earliest opportunity.

"Every effort is being made to ensure this does not happen, particularly at such an incredibly difficult time."

A company spokesman "strongly advised" people to visit southernwater.co.uk for the latest updates and follow @SouthernWater on Twitter and Facebook.

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