Several areas in a Kent town have been left without running water this afternoon.

Residents in Maidstone – including Barming, Allington and Loose – have all been affected.

The outage is due to a burst water main, which is currently being fixed by South East Water engineers.

Its website states it was reported yesterday at 1.19am and they aim to fix it by 5pm today.

A statement on the company's website said: "We're really sorry to those of you who are experiencing low water pressure or no water at the moment.

"We're currently working to fix a burst water main in conjunction with other utility services.

"We have managed to re-route some of the water in our network which means most customers should have their supplies returned.

"As soon as the repairs have been completed, your water will return to normal.

"We can't say just yet how long this will take but please rest assured we're doing everything we can to get you back up and running as soon as possible."

Homes along Hermitage Lane and Loose Road were reported to be without water at around 12.30pm, but this has now been fixed.

Residents were advised to not be alarmed or worried if their water was brown, as this happens when small particles of iron in the mains are disturbed.

They are advised to run their cold kitchen tap until it turns clear.

Several people commented in a local Facebook group asking if others in the surrounding area had similar issues.

One said: "We have no water supply in Banky Meadow does anyone else?"

Another posted: "Low water pressure in Tarragon Road, anybody else having the same problem?"

Andy Beston, South East Water’s regional networks manager, said: “We’re really sorry to customers in Maidstone who were without water for a short period this afternoon.

“The booster pumps at our water treatment works which supply the town went down due to a power cut in the area but are now operating again.

“We’re really sorry for any inconvenience caused while we worked to return customers’ supplies to normal.”