A farmer with 40 cattle and cows about to give birth is “hysterical” due to the water outages in the county.

Wealden District councillor Michael Lunn expressed the anger at the “crazy situation” in the Hadlow Down area hit by the lack of water.

He says he has spoken to around 20 farmers affected by the drop in supply on South East Water’s network, with the crisis now in its sixth day.

“It’s really serious,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, South East Water are just so, so slow in responding to this crisis.

“We were aware this was going to happen, we are not shocked or surprised, we are disappointed and we are really angry.”

South East Water bosses have been urging people to use essential water only and have announced a temporary hosepipe ban to come into force on June 26 to tackle the issue.

Mr Lunn, a farmer himself, also rejected South East Water “in effect blaming residents” over their water usage, but instead believes the water company is underinvesting in its infrastructure.

He also said that he has been told by South East Water the crisis will not be resolved until “at least Sunday”.

The supplier has apologised to customers hit by no or low water pressure.

It comes as Cllr Lunn told The Argus yesterday (June 15) about 20 thoroughbred horses in the Hadlow Down area which are facing death by dehydration.

The Argus: The horses are still without enough waterThe horses are still without enough water (Image: The Argus)

The stable owner, who asked to remain anonymous, has been running to her farm with buckets of water from a nearby location where water is available.

“It’s causing a huge amount of stress among the horses,” said Cllr Lunn.

“The owner is also really stressed out, worried and concerned. She has been carrying buckets of water to the herd but she is now totally exhausted.

READ MORE: Uckfield horses facing death over water outage

“Forty times she has phoned South East water and they are not helping her.”

Cllr Lunn said the driver of a South East Water tanker refused to deposit water at the stables despite taking water to an animal sanctuary just a few hundred metres down the road.

South East Water issued a plea earlier this week asking those who still have water to use it only when necessary.