A self-employed builder has been forced to use river water to mix cement so he can keep earning money and supporting his family amid ongoing water supply issues across Sussex and Kent.

Thousands of people are starting this week without running water after a major incident caused by Storm Goretti.

This includes around 16,500 properties in East Grinstead, where homes and businesses have been without water since Saturday - even causing schools to shut.

One resident, Kylie Pain, 42, says this means she has been unable to go to work in her job at a country club as she has to stay home to look after her young kids.

And her husband Steve, a self-employed builder, has also been forced to cancel several jobs as he is unable to work without water.

The business owner, also 42, has since been travelling back and forth to the local river to get enough water to mix cement in hopes of getting back to work.

Footage captures him lugging heavy bags of the murky water back to his van before driving them ten minutes home and coming back for more.

Kylie says that the plan is working for now, but they are still desperate to get their water back as soon as possible.

The mum-of-three said: "My husband has been running back and forth to the local river to see if he can get back to work because he is a builder and he can't mix cement."

"He got enough from the river to potentially start tomorrow but obviously you need a lot of water for cement and things. We would have needed about 100 bottles. "

"If he can't work then we get no money in. I can't work because the kids aren't at school so I will be losing money as well. Hopefully the ducks don't mind!"

"It wouldn't surprise me if other people are doing similar things because everyone is starting to get a bit desperate. People want to get back to work."

Kylie says that they are not the only business owners struggling, with the area becoming a "ghost town."

South East Water are handing out bottled drinking water at various pick-up points throughout the town, but most businesses are still unable to open for hygiene reasons.

The mum says she has been told water will likely be back by Thursday (January 15) but that she doesn't have high hopes.

She added: "It has been absolute carnage. People are queueing for hours to get bottles of water. We are having to flush the toilet with rainwater."

"Thousands of people are really struggling. We just can't go anywhere. The whole town is closed. People are pretty much stuck. It feels like Covid again."

"It goes from one extreme to the other. It is either a ghost town because everything is closed or there is so much traffic with people queueing up to get their free bottles of water."

"South East Water have been useless, they haven't given us any end or information on what they are doing. I don't hold out much hope that if they say Thursday it will be Thursday."

The water company say that Storm Goretti and cold weather are to blame for leaks and burst water mains which has left their drinking water storage tanks running low.

A spokesperson for South East Water posted: "We're sorry to our customers across Kent and Sussex who are still experiencing issues with their drinking water supplies."

"Our drinking water storage tanks across the counties are running low following an outbreak of leaks and burst water mains after the recent cold weather."

"As a result, around 30,000 properties across parts of Kent and Sussex may be experiencing no water, intermittent supply or low pressure."

"This includes 16,500 properties in East Grinstead, with the remainder spread across parts of Kent, including Tunbridge Wells, Headcorn and intermittently across our Maidstone system."

"We're sorry for the impact caused by this and know how disruptive it is to your daily lives. We're doing all we can to try and balance our network and restore supplies to as many customers as possible."