Villagers who have been without running water for five days saw emergency bottled supplies run out – with fresh stock held up by a protest on the M25.

Ongoing supply issues mean households in Challock and Molash near Ashford faced a further wait to turn their taps back on after the hottest day on record.

South East Water, which runs the water supplies in the area, described the supplies as "intermittent" last night but residents reported having no water at all this morning, while a select few had extremely low pressure. This evening, the company said the mains supply was being restored.

The bottled water station at Challock Village Hall reopened at 9am – but a South East Water spokesperson said roadworks were blocking access to the site.

"We are looking in to getting this resolved as soon as possible, and we want to make sure everyone has access to some water," they added.

"If you are vulnerable and cannot collect water from our bottled water station, and there is no one able to collect on your behalf, please get in touch. Call us on 0333 000 1122 so we can support you."

This comes after residents were warned yesterday to expect the issues to continue at least into a third day.

This evening, South East Water said: "We hope that you're starting to see mains supply be restored in the area.

"At 5pm we were able to turn on the pumps and we expect them to run until about 9pm tonight when the level in the reservoir reaches the point we’ll need to switch them off again.

"Unfortunately our bottled water station has temporarily run out of water. More water is on the way, but it's been held up by the protests on the M25 at the Dartford Tunnel.

"We're sorry about this, and hope to have water available for everyone again tonight."

An update at 7.30pm said: "Our bottled water station at Challock Village Hall has now been restocked and will remain open until 9pm. It will then reopen at 9am tomorrow."

Ashford MP Damian Green said he "shared the frustration" of affected residents and was pushing the water company to resume full service.

In a statement yesterday he said: "This afternoon I have spoken to the chief executive of South East Water about the frustration felt by people in Challock and Molash about the continuing problems with water supply. I share this frustration.

"South East Water is now aiming to have some water available every day, so that although supplies will be intermittent they will be there for sanitary purposes.

"They are re-directing water from other parts of the network so the number of hours where supply is normal will increase over the next couple of days.

"The emergency supplies available at Challock Village Hall will be improved to include bags which enable larger amounts of water to be taken away, for example to flush toilets.

"I wish I could give a specific time when this incident will finish, but at the moment there are too many uncertainties."

"There is a wide appeal out to people to reduce water usage just to essentials.

"So far this is being well observed, but inevitably in some rural areas the private supplies which farmers use for essential purposes have run out, putting even more pressure on the demand for the public water system.

"I wish I could give a specific time when this incident will finish, but at the moment there are too many uncertainties. I will continue to urge South East Water to do everything in its power to resume full service to its customers."