SES Water has issued an update following an urgent warning about the tap water in thousands of Surrey and Kent homes.

Last week, SES Water said routine tests showed that its water supplies could be affected by the deadly E-coli bacteria.

It issued a boil water notice to around 6,500 properties in Oxted, Redhill, Limpsfield, Godstone and Sevenoaks to boil their drinking water and then let it cool before drinking, preparing food or brushing teeth.

The company has since said that they are lifting this notice after "investigations showed there is no indication of contaminated water leaving the treatment works".

SES explained that each year it carries out 130,000 tests on around 13,000 samples at every point from source to tap and "incidents like this are extremely rare".

Wholesale director Tom Kelly apologised on behalf of the company for the "inconvenience and concern this situation has caused", but assured that it was the right thing to do for public safety based on information at the time.

The full statement, issued on Saturday, said: "Following a positive result for E-coli from one sample at our Westwood Water Treatment Works on Thursday, we put in place a precautionary boil notice for customers whose mains water is supplied from the site – this is around 6,500 properties in and around Oxted in Surrey.

"I am very pleased to say that we now have final confirmation that the precautionary boil notice has now been lifted with immediate effect. We are in the process of informing our customers in as many ways as possible and appreciate everyone's assistance in getting this message out.

"Each year we carry out 130,000 tests on around 13,000 samples at every point from source to tap and incidents like this are extremely rare.

"Our investigations into the isolated sample result continue but there is no indication of contaminated water leaving the treatment works.

"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern this situation has caused to some of our customers, but putting a precautionary measure in place was the right thing to do, based on the information available at the time, to safeguard public safety".

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