Water has finally returned for many village residents after four days.

South East Water has confirmed that water pressure has been restored in Loose.

In a statement last week, the company said that following a "booster issue" they couldn't use its pumps.

It was initially reported at 4.15pm last Wednesday, with approximately 400 properties affected.

South East Water released an update on their website yesterday.

"Good news," it said. "Our teams have been working around the clock and we are pleased to confirm the booster site is running and you should now see your taps flowing as normal.

"Your water may also appear cloudy, or white.

"If you fill a glass of water and it clears from the bottom upwards then this means your water is just a little more aerated than usual.

"Simply run the water from your cold kitchen tap until the water is clear."

They added that they will be "continuing to monitor the situation for any changes" and apologised for the disruption.

On Thursday, two schools in the area were forced to close, with students being sent home to complete work online.

During this time bottles were being handed out at emergency stations – including the Loose Parish Pavilion in Walnut Tree Lane and the YMCA in Melrose Close.

New Line Learning Academy reopened the following day, however Five Acre Wood School in Boughton Lane was still shut on Friday.

A new update posted on their Facebook page said: "We are pleased to inform you that the South East Water supply issue has now been resolved and the water is back on at the Loose site.

"The school will therefore re-open tomorrow (January 23).

"This information will also be communicated on our website and individual class Team pages.

"We thank you again for your patience and understanding during this challenging time."

Nick Bell, South East Water’s incident manager, commented: “We are very sorry to our customers in the Loose area who have had intermittent tap water supply or low pressure.

“It has been caused by technical issues at our water treatment works in Forstal following bad weather. In addition, our water treatment works at Boxley has been out of service for essential maintenance.

“This combined meant storage levels of treated water in the area became low.

“As a result the pumps which push tap water to higher ground can’t operate all the time.

“We are doing all we can to increase the storage levels so the pumps can run as usual.

“We are working around the clock to resolve the problems and once again apologise to our customers.”