THE water supply crisis gripping Eastbourne and surrounding areas has intensified again after South East Water confirmed a new outage affecting the town’s seafront, adding to widespread disruption already being felt across the district.
In a statement issued today, South East Water said the latest problems were caused by another burst water main, leaving households and businesses with low pressure or no water at all.
South East Water’s Head of Water Supply for Sussex, Rob Hall, said: “We are sorry to all customers in the Eastbourne area who have been affected by intermittent supply, low pressure or no water this evening (Friday, 16 January).
“This was due to a burst water main on Grand Parade, which we were alerted to around 5pm this evening.
“This was repaired swiftly and affected supplies to around 670 properties in the area while we carried out the work.
“We are currently in the process of returning supplies to impacted customers in the area. This has to be done in a controlled way to prevent any further issues.
“Once again, we apologise to all customers for the inconvenience caused.”
Customers have been advised to sign up for SMS text alerts via South East Water’s website to receive automatic updates on the repair work.
The latest outage comes on top of ongoing water pressure and supply issues in Langney, Hampden Park, Pevensey, Upper and Lower Dicker, with parts of Hellingly also affected.
Residents have reported days of disruption, with many still unclear about when a full return to normal service can be expected.
The knock-on effects of the crisis were starkly highlighted this evening after Trafalgar Theatres, which operates the Congress Theatre, was forced to cancel a sold-out performance of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror, disappointing more than 1,500 ticket-holders.
In a statement, the theatre said: “Please accept our apologies but, due to disruption to the venue’s water supply, tonight’s event cannot proceed and will be rescheduled. Please do not travel to the venue.”
The cancellation underlines the growing impact of the water mains failures, which are now affecting not only homes but also major venues, local businesses and the town’s visitor economy.
Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde has already criticised South East Water’s handling of the situation, saying the level of disruption and the quality of communication with residents has been “not good enough”. He has called for clearer timelines, emergency bottled water provision and long-term investment in ageing infrastructure, arguing that years of underinvestment have left the network vulnerable to severe weather and rising demand.
With burst mains continuing to emerge across the area, pressure is mounting on South East Water to stabilise the network quickly and reassure residents that further outages can be avoided, as frustration grows across Eastbourne and Hailsham.
Residents can get updates here.
UPDATE 20:21pm: South East Reported the issue as resolved.
