A burst pipe has cut off water supplies to Paddock Wood near Tunbridge Wells as Britain basks in one of the hottest days of the year so far.

One post on social media said: "Road is collapsing on the railway bridge in Maidstone Road, I kid you not. Water main burst. Avoid."

Another said: "Most of Paddock Wood is out of water."

South East Water is said to be preparing to distribute free bottles of water to its most vulnerable customers.

An update on its web page said: "We're really sorry to those of you who are experiencing low water pressure of no water at the moment.

"This has been caused by a burst main which we are trying to fix as quickly as we can.

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

Steve Andrews, head of central operations at South East Water said: “We do have a small number of customers - less than 100 - in Paddock Wood without water this morning due to a burst main and we would like to apologise to them for the interruption to their supply.

"We can't say yet how long the repair will take but please rest assured we're doing everything we can to get the supply back up and running as soon as possible and in the meantime, our customers can get updates from our live map on our website www.southeastwater.co.uk

The website says repairs were expected to begin around 12.30pm with an estimated completion a little after 5pm.

Residents can log on to receive updates here.

On Monday, the leak was even worse with water gushing into the road.

It is the latest in a string of pipe bursts which have already hit Kent this week.

The villages of Challock and Molash near Ashford, served by South East Water, were left without water yesterday.

And residents on the Isle of Sheppey, served by Southern Water, were left without for up to three days when the main carrying supplies to the Island from the mainland burst in two places.

Previously, South East Water said the continuous hot weather and significantly increased demand has put a "significant pressure" on its network.