SCHOOLS have been forced to shut in Surrey after a ‘major incident’ was declared.
Thousands of people are still without water after Storm Ciaran wreaked havoc across Britain.
Due to having little or no water supply, 14 schools have been forced to close their doors today after Surrey County Council declared a major incident on Sunday.
These include Charterhouse School, Godalming Junior School and Loseley Fields School.
Thames Water has apologised for the problems in areas including Guildford and Godalming, saying that the storm had created issues at the Shalford water treatment works.
Photos show annoyed residents being forced to queue up for bottled water today.
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It comes as Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows criticised Thames Water for a lack of communication.
He told BBC Breakfast: "Water infrastructure in this country is clearly crumbling.
"I have certainly got questions for the county for not declaring a major incident much earlier, and I will certainly have questions for our MP about the state of water infrastructure in the local area because it is clearly failing.
"People have been quite upset… we've had almost no communications from Thames Water right from the start, so just actually trying to get basic information about what the problem is, how they're resolving it and when it will be resolved, that has actually been the challenge."
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Surrey County Council (SCC) declared a major incident on Sunday.
It said staff were dealing with incidents involving reports of no water or low pressure.
Chancellor Jermey Hunt, who is MP for South West Surrey said he was "very concerned" about the situation and tweeted that he would talk to a Thames Water executive.
After speaking to Alastair Cochran, Thames Water's interim co-chief executive and chief financial officer, Mr Hunt posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, which said the firm was "resetting and reprogramming" the control system.
The Chancellor later tweeted that the firm was "tankering water to ensure that they can support hospitals and bottled water stations remain open".
FULL LIST OF SCHOOLS
- Milford School
- Rodborough School
- Tenderlinks Day Nursery
- Moss Lane School
- Godalming Junior School
- St Edmund's Primary School
- Broadwater School
- St Hilary’s School
- Loseley Fields
- St Mark and All Saints
- Farncombe School
- Charterhouse School
- Priors Field
- Busbridge School
David Bird, retail director for Thames Water, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We absolutely accept that the quality of service that has been provided to our customers has not been at the level they would want, but obviously in this specific incident in Guildford it has been as a result of one of the biggest storms we've had in a decade.
"My focus today is making sure we are supporting all of our customers."
A Thames Water spokesperson this morning told The Sun: "Shalford water treatment works is now back online, following issues caused by Storm Ciaran.
"We need to refill underground reservoirs which have run very low and expect supply to return over the next 24-hours. We’d like to thank our customers for their patience during this time.
“We’re very sorry to local people who are still experiencing no water or low pressure.
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"Tankers remain in the area to pump water into the local supply network and we’re re-opening two bottled water stations from 9am:"
- Crown Court Car Park, Godalming, GU7 1HR and
- Artington Park and Ride, Old Portsmouth Rd, Guildford GU3 1LP
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