A delivery man has been caught placing emergency water supplies on a Kent doorstep before snapping a photograph and taking it away again.
The bizarre Ring doorbell footage was captured outside the home of Sam Purslow, 35, from Tunbridge Wells, who has been without water for over a week due to pressure issues at South East Water.
Tens of thousands of homes in Kent and Sussex have been left without drinking water after the water company said Storm Goretti caused burst pipes and power cuts.
Vehicle technician Sam has been forced to drive over an hour out of his way each day just so he can shower, while he has also had to queue up for bottled water for use around the house.
On Wednesday his wife received a text saying they would get a delivery of bottled water following nearly a week of supply issues, only to wake up this morning to see that the delivery had never arrived.
But when the couple checked their doorbell camera, they discovered it had in fact been delivered, only to be immediately taken away again by the delivery driver.
Video shows a man delivering four cases of bottled water and taking a picture – before picking it back up again and walking away moments after.
This delivery man was caught placing emergency water supplies on a Kent doorstep before taking it away again
The man can be seen delivering four cases of bottled water and taking a picture – before picking it back up again and walking away moments after
Sam said: ‘I got to work and my wife said: “Have you checked the doorbell footage at about 1.30 this morning?”
‘I had a little look, and I could see them delivering to our neighbour, taking a photo of it as confirmation, and then taking it to us with another photo confirmation, and then presumably to the rest [of the homes]. It’s a bit shocking.’
He’s put down the odd behaviour to ‘laziness’ by the third-party delivery company contracted by South East Water.
He added: ‘We’re on a cul-de-sac and there’s a footpath to our area, it’s a 10 to 15 second walk with a few different doors.
‘Presumably they didn’t want to keep walking back and forth, so they just took the shortcut and thought they’d pass it off.’
Earlier today, water regulator Ofwat said it had opened an investigation into South East Water following a series of issues across the counties.
Lynn Parker, Ofwat senior director for enforcement, said: ‘The last six weeks have been miserable for businesses and households across Kent and Sussex with repeated supply problems.
‘We know that this has had a huge impact on all parts of daily life and hurt businesses, particularly in the run-up to the festive period.
A South East Water customer arrives to collect bottled water at a water station in East Grinstead, after bad weather was blamed for more water outages in Kent and parts of Sussex
Officials distribute bottled water in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, as thousands of properties across South East England remain affected by water outages on Thursday
‘That is why we need to investigate and to determine whether the company has breached its licence condition.’
A South East Water spokesperson said: ‘We’re very concerned about the stories and videos being shared on social media regarding the bottled water and grab bag deliveries in Tunbridge Wells.
‘Due to the scale of the operation to deliver to all affected customers, we were supported by a third-party company. We are investigating these claims immediately.
‘We’d like to thank customers for sharing their experiences to make us aware.’
