Residents reportedly had bottles of water stolen from their doorsteps which were delivered in case supplies ran low.

Southern Water sent out cases to 3,800 customers including those living in Hoo, High Halstow, Strood and Cliffe on Friday (November 17) night, after planned improvement works overran at its Burham supply centre.

The site had been operating at a reduced output so as a precaution the firm set up its “alternative response protocol”.

In a text to residents, the company added: “We are managing a technical problem at a nearby water supply works.

“There is no immediate risk to your supply but we are delivering bottled water to our priority service register customers as a precaution.”

Bottled water stations were also set up but by Saturday (November 18) morning they were removed as Southern Water said it was “confident all customers would remain in supply”.

Despite this, several residents who should have received bottles of water claim they were stolen from their doorsteps and driveways.

One said someone was driving around in a car and taking any that were left out in High Halstow.

A spokesman for Southern Water said: “We received a handful of calls from vulnerable customers on our priority services register saying they did not receive water and we re-delivered to them yesterday (Saturday).

“If someone was stealing the water, this is disappointing. The priority service register is for people with a medical need for water or who would be unable to get to a bottled water station in the event of a supply outage.”

There have been no reports of any water issues in the area since.