Water supply issue affects Gatwick Airport

A water supply issue is affecting both terminals at Gatwick Airport

Both terminals at Gatwick Airport are being affected by a water supply issue, with toilets reported to be out of order and restaurants closed.

Bottled water is being made available to passengers and staff and contingency measures have also been put in place, it said.

SES Water, which covers parts of Kent, Surrey and south London, as well as the airport, has said its service is resuming after an earlier power outage at its treatment works.

The water company said complications caused by a power outage at its Bough Beech Water Treatment Works meant some customers had experienced low water pressure or a temporary loss of supply.

A spokesperson confirmed earlier that Gatwick Airport was affected.

In an update just before 13:45, they said: "Our Bough Beech water treatment works are back up and running.

"We now need to treat the water before returning services to normal as quickly as we possibly can."

In a statement, it said: "There is currently no water supply in either terminal.

"Our staff are on hand to support passengers and provide assistance where needed, some restaurant partners have opened to provide additional seating."

The airport said it was working closely with the water company to restore supplies as quickly as possible.

Earlier, a passenger at the airport, Paul Lee, told the BBC he had not heard any announcements about the issue or seen bottled water being handed out.

He said: "For people who need to go to the toilet, this isn't good, and still no announcement or official information - and the water they mentioned isn't being distributed.

"I'm taking off soon, so that's fine, but for passengers in a few hours, this will be bad."

Lee added that restaurants and lounges were shut but shops were open.

Former MP and ex-CEO of UK Music Michael Dugher urged the airport on social media to "at least allow people to use the chairs in all the closed restaurants and bars".

Dugher, who was recently appointed the UK government's first "music champion", said: "No water is one thing but depriving people of somewhere to sit is another... families are having to sit on the floor."

Passenger Roger Wood says Wetherspoons staff were turning people away

Passenger Roger Wood, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, said he thought his friends were joking when they told him there were no restaurants or bars open in Gatwick's south terminal.

When he arrived to meet them ahead of his flight on Sunday, he found "there was no water at all - no Nando's, no Wetherspoon, all of those places were complet