BBC
The chief executive of a water company that was heavily criticised after severe supply issues caused misery for tens of thousands of people has resigned.
South East Water said David Hinton had decided to step down but would remain in post “to allow an orderly transition over the summer period”.
“He feels his position has become an increasing distraction from South East Water’s most important priority, which is to deliver a resilient water supply for its customers,” the company said.
Interim chair Lisa Clement said: “The board acknowledges and thanks Dave for his many years of loyal dedication and service to South East Water.”
The BBC has been told Hinton will not be talking to the media on Friday and the decision he would resign was taken the day before the announcement.
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Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds welcomed the resignation.
“This must mark the beginning of positive change at South East Water, where customers’ needs are prioritised and there is a stop to supply outages,” she said.
Alistair Carmichael MP, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, said the resignation was “obviously the right thing for him to have done”.
The committee’s highly critical report, published on 1 May, accused the water company of poor leadership, weak governance and a culture where nobody was held accountable.
Most of Tunbridge Wells and some surrounding areas experienced low pressure or no tap water at all between 29 November and 4 December.
Part of the town was affected again in January – along with areas such as East Grinstead, Maidstone, and Canterbury – and the company blamed this outage on Storm Goretti and cold weather.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate is also investigating the company, which serves customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.
It previously reported the November incident was “foreseeable and preventable”, and blamed “longstanding weaknesses” in management, monitoring, maintenance and organisational preparedness at South East Water.
Mike Martin, the MP for Tunbridge Wells, told BBC Radio Kent: “It’s good that Dave Hinton has done the right thing and resigned.”
East Grinstead and Uckfield MP Mims Davies called for a quick handover and a “feeling of change ASAP”, while Helen Whately, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, said she was “frustrated that it took so long” for Hinton to resign.
Tunbridge Wells butcher Richard Hards said it was “about time people take responsibility”.
He told the BBC he had to shut for about a week in November and lost thousands of pounds in revenue.
Alex Green, leader of Tunbridge Wells Business Improvement District, called for new leadership to ensure “this just doesn’t happen again”.
Care home manager Jason Denny said he was “not clear at the moment” how systemic water problems would be addressed.
His home had more than 30 residents when it was first hit by water supply issues, leaving them to use 2,000 bottles of water a day.
Vulnerable people were “disproportionately affected”, he added.
Murat Askin, who owns a cafe and a bar in Tunbridge Wells, said that during the outages people were “left without basic essentials for days”, which was “simply unacceptable”.
“I’m very happy to hear David Hinton has finally resigned,” he said. “This sends a message that residents now want action, not just apologies.”
