A water company has been forced to apologise after a burst pipe left homes with no supply on the hottest day of the year.

As temperatures approached 30 degrees C this afternoon, the taps ran dry in parts of Maidstone after the fault in a main.

South East Water apologised and this evening arranged for emergency supplies of bottled water to be made available at Maidstone leisure centre at Mote Park.

It tweeted: "We're sorry to customers in Maidstone affected by low pressure or no water following a burst pipe.

"We're working to restore supplies as soon as possible."

The company's online map showed Weavering, Downswood, Shepway and parts of Bearsted were among the areas affected.

A large area to the south of town was also without supplies, including Chainhurst, Linton, Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton.

It is thought the fault south of Maidstone was first reported at about 4.20pm. It was not clear where on the network the pipes had burst, or whether the two problems were linked.

Earlier, the company had urged people to "use water wisely" after demand reached a 10-year high.

Thousands of people headed for the beach to cool off, with hundreds caught up in long queues on the roads.

There were shocking pictures of Margate beach, where visitors packed onto the sand.

And members of Littlestone RNLI were dismayed to find beachgoers had used their lifeboat station as a toilet.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone