Businesses and up to 1,000 homes found themselves without water for several hours this morning.

South East Water blamed the stoppage on a power outage that had left them unable to pump water to homes along Loose Road in Maidstone and to parts of Loose village.

The water went off at 7.51am, but was restored by 10.37am.

Among those affected were children and parents of the Five Acre Wood Special Needs School off Boughton Lane.

Parents received a text message from the school early this morning explaining that the school had no water and that they should keep their children at home.

Later, they received a second message to say they could now bring their children to school.

Nick McDonald of Hazelwood Drive, Maidstone, has a daughter at the school and he was annoyed by the closure.

He said: “It’s not the school’s fault - it’s South East Water’s. But this keeps happening.

“It happens two or three times a year - the last time was in February.

“This is not simply an inconvenience; it is a major disruption to the education and well-being of our children.

“The school provides vital support for families like mine, and its closure significantly impacts our ability to manage daily life.”

Mr McDonald has written to his MP, Helen Grant, asking her to put pressure on South East Water to up its game.

He also suggested: “Perhaps the government should consider funding a back-up water supply for the school, so that our children’s education is not affected?”

South East Water’s head of operations for Kent, Nick Bell said: “We’re sorry to customers in the Loose area who experienced no water or low pressure this morning.

“A technical issue at our water treatment works resulted in a loss of supply to around 1,000 homes for just under three hours this morning.

“This issue has now been resolved, and all customers should have their water supply returned.

“If you find your water coming out of your tap brown or discoloured, it’s completely safe and is caused by a change of pressure within the pipes, dislodging iron and manganese sediments. It can easily be fixed by running your tap until the water clears.”

MP Helen Grant said: “I have contacted South East Water to demand more information about why the water supply has been disrupted, when it will be restored and, most importantly, what measures will be put in place to prevent this situation from arising again.

“As you may know, the water regulator Ofwat opened an enforcement case into South East Water last November to investigate whether the company had failed to develop and maintain an efficient water supply system. I have therefore contacted Ofwat to ask when this investigation will be completed and the outcome published.

“I am continuing to follow the progress of this issue closely because of the regular disruptions to the water supply that my constituents have experienced.

“I expect to see South East Water take proper action to ensure that such issues do not arise again and mitigate the risk of schools being forced to close in the future.”