More than 4,000 homes are still without water more than a week after a shutdown that supplier South East Water (SEW) blamed on 'high demand' in the hot weather.

Residents of the Whitstable area of Kent have experienced widespread supply issues since May 23 which are only now being resolved.

SEW says 4,058 properties may experience 'low pressure or an intermittent supply' across the county throughout the rest of today, but that most of the properties affected for the last nine days should expect to have supplies as normal.

Local businesses are counting the cost after missing out on thousands of pounds of seasonal trade because they were forced to shut their doors. 

Pubs, cafes, restaurants and even Whitstable's Playhouse Theatre were among those affected, while one hotel on the outskirts of the town was reported to have recruited a water firm that usually supplies festivals so a wedding could go ahead as planned.

Locals took to the sea last week in a symbolic protest in order to bathe, wash their hair and brush their teeth - and had words as salty as the water they had to bathe in for the firm responsible for the shutdown. 

Caroline Wade, who organised the mass dip, told KentOnline: 'Water is not a luxury - it's an essential item and it's a health and safety risk in this heat.

'It's incredible in modern-day Britain that we're having to live like this. I just want to be able to turn my tap on, for water to come out, and I want to pay a fair price.'

One participant glibly added: 'Even flushing the toilet was a celebration this morning - which it shouldn't be, really.'

Businesses in Whitstable said the shortages could not have come at a worse time for a town that relies on passing trade from tourists. 

One Airbnb landlord said on social media she had to refund guests for their entire booking. The seafront Hotel Continental has ordered portable toilets for the guests willing to stay.

Natalie Hennessey, owner of pizza restaurant Woodfire Kitchen, said: 'Whitstable is such a seasonal town, so when the weather’s hot, tourists are here, it’s the time when we make our money.

'The impact of having no water now means that obviously the tourists have left the town.' She added that refrigerated stock with a limited shelf life may end up being thrown out as a result.

Gary Parker believes his wife's clothing business may have lost hundreds of pounds a day while the South Quay Shed market hall was shut. The hall has now re-opened.

Alan Hatley, another trader based in the shed, said he would have expected to take as much as £1,000 a day were it not for the outage.

'In this weather, obviously ice cream would have been a great seller today, so it’s going to impact us dramatically. It's quite a dent in the finances,' he said.

Bosses at South East Water (SEW) have blamed 'very high demand' in the 'exceptionally high temperatures' of recent days, and have set up five bottled water stations in Herne Bay, Whitstable, Maidstone and Staplehurst to address demand.

They have also said businesses will be compensated for the loss of supply. 

The woes in Whitstable are the latest in a long line of issues to have plagued the regional water board, which is being investigated by regulator Ofwat after supplies were interrupted in Tunbridge Wells in November and December, while further issues took hold in January. 

The firm - whose departing boss David Hinton was awarded a £115,000 bonus last year on top of his £400,000 salary - says it is 'sincerely sorry' for the disruption.

It has asked locals in the Whitstable area to avoid using jet washes and hose pipes while it brings supplies back online, adding: 'The car and patio can wait for a wash.' 

'Act now, please do all you can to cut down on everything but essential water use, which is drinking, washing and cooking,' it said in an update published today.

'Once again, we are sorry to customers who have had interruptions or low pressure in their water supply. We will continue to do all we can to prevent and resolve the issues.'

Critics say chronic underinvestment in upgrades is to blame for SEW's long-term troubles. The company is 50 per cent owned by an Australian investment firm, with other stakes owned by NatWest and Canadian firm Desjardins Group.

The company - which uses the slogan 'Every Drop Counts' - has previously admitted that its infrastructure is leaking 104.8million litres of water every single day across its network, almost 30 per cent over its target of 81 million. 

Following repeated failures in recent months, Kent County Council said last week that it will lead a new taskforce to oversee how water supplies are being protected for the 1.6million people living in the region.

Linden Kemkaran, leader of the council, said: 'People across Kent are fed up with being left without water or having their supply disrupted, sometimes for days at a time, and not getting clear answers about what’s gone wrong or when it will be fixed. 

'That’s simply not good enough.'

In an extraordinarily damning report, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee said it had 'no confidence' in South East Water's leaders, chief executive David Hinton and chairman Chris Train.

It said in a strongly worded report the company's leadership 'appears shielded from the consequences of its incompetence'. Shortly after the report was published, Mr Hinton and Mr Train said they would quit.

The firm is also facing a £22million fine from regulator Ofwat over previous supply issues that affected a total of 286,000 people in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023. 

Rosie Duffield, MP for the Canterbury constituency, branded the shortages 'utterly unacceptable', telling the BBC: 'It affects us all, and we're really, really angry.'