Residents in Tunbridge Wells have been experiencing water problems as maintenance work is carried out on pipelines in the area.

Comedian Bob Mortimer took to social media to ask South East Water why he had lost all water pressure.

The company replied to the 56-year-old, who lives in the area and is best known for work with fellow comedian Vic Reeves, to say it had received several calls about the issue.

A South East Water spokesman said engineers have been carrying out routine maintenance on the pipeline network in Tunbridge Wells throughout the day.

They said flushing involves pumping water at high pressure through the water pipes from the start to finish of the network.

Michael Phillips, distribution manager at South East Water, added: “Flushing removes naturally-occurring, harmless deposits from the inside the pipes and is carried out daily and usually goes on unnoticed.

“However on this occasion it impacted on customers water supplies in the town.

“The network is being returned to normal and we will investigate what has caused the problem to ensure it does not happen again.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The spokesman said when flushing is taking place, customers may temporarily see their water turn brown. If this happens they should simply run their kitchen tap until the water is running crystal clear as usual.