South East Water apologised for its choice of water station location after widespread water supply issues across Sussex this weekend.
East Grinstead was at the epicentre of the Sussex crisis, with around 16,500 homes in the area left with little or no running water on Saturday, January 10.
In response, South East Water established two water stations in East Grinstead town centre – at Sainsbury’s on Brooklands Way, and Queensway Car Park, on Queen’s Road.
However, the location of these water stations was heavily criticised – particularly the Sainsbury’s site, which was located near East Grinstead train station.
A rail replacement service was running all weekend between Gatwick/Three Bridges and East Grinstead due to planned works.
The combination of the rail replacement buses and thousands of people attempting to access the water station brought the town centre to a standstill.
You can follow our live coverage of the situation here: Live: day two of water supply issues in East Grinstead | The Argus
Mims Davies, MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, described the situation as ‘bedlam’.
She said on Saturday: “The reality is, today is awful.”
Commenting on South East Water’s Facebook page, Michelle Ann wrote: “We have two bottled water stations in town – both are textbook examples of how NOT to run emergency distribution.”
She labelled the location of the Sainsbury’s station “genuinely baffling.”
“A supermarket accessed via a tiny road off a roundabout, which already backs up the underpass and bypass.
“Add into the mix rail replacement buses for Gatwick, passengers loading and unloading on the same exit road, and you’ve created a perfect traffic failure.
“Cars stuck. Buses stuck. The town is paralysed.”
In response to this criticism, South East Water decided to move the Sainsbury’s water station to East Grinstead Sports Club on Sunday.
This new station wasn’t without its issues though; it was supposed to open at 9am, only for a “third party to let South East Water down”, according to Mims Davies MP.
The water station at the sports club finally got up and running around midday, but not before people had spent a long time queuing only to be turned away.
South East Water incident manager, Steve Andrews, said: “We have listened to customer feedback regarding yesterday’s bottled water station at Sainsbury’s, and we have taken the decision not to open this today (Sunday), with an alternative bottled water station opened at East Grinstead Sports Club.
“We apologise for the disruption caused to the local community.”
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