I RECENTLY met with representatives from South East Water and Southern Water, the two water companies who provide water and wastewater services for Wealden.

Also in attendance was leader of Wealden District Council, Councillor Bob Standley.

The meeting took place at Bewl Water reservoir, an 800 acre stretch of open water, the largest in South East England.

Bewl Water is one of the primary sources of water for South East Water and Southern Water for East Sussex and Kent.

Earlier this year, large parts of Wealden were left without a reliable water supply for up to five days. I arranged this meeting to further press South East Water to ensure that the lessons have been learnt from the water shortage crisis, and that they will be better prepared should it happen again in the future.

How water companies can work with the Government and local authorities to improve the efficiency and sustainability of water supplies going forward was also discussed.

The water supply problems that affected thousands of my constituents across Wealden for up to five days were unacceptable and alarming.

I pushed South East Water for significant compensation as well as the need to undertake a serious review into their methods of dealing with water shortage.

I am glad that South East Water are taking the lessons learnt from the water supply problems on board and are working hard to ensure they never happen again, but I will continue to keep pressure on both the water companies and the local councils to hold them to account.

Nus Ghani is MP for Wealden.