Some 160 people said they had contacted Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin to speak to SEW on their behalf to ask for a delivery, claiming the water company was not answering the phone.
Sephton said the maximum wait time for a call to be answered was 18 minutes and the immediate priority was to provide a supply to the town’s two hospitals via water tankers.
She said a dialysis centre received pallets of bottled water, though could not say when, and care settings were the next to receive supplies.
MPs also quizzed Hinton on why he chose not to communicate directly to his customers through the media during the two weeks.
He said did not give interviews because it would not give him the opportunity to deliver his key message, and he might instead be “asked about what you might imagine, about dividends, salary…”, adding that he was “happy to take those any other time, but not during the event”.
During the crisis, Martin repeatedly called on Hinton to resign, heavily criticising his leadership.
When the MP’s comments hit the headlines, the committee heard Martin received a call from Hinton asking how he “could sleep at night having politicised the issue”.
Hinton told the committee he could not recall the specifics of the conversation, but later in the meeting said he was “not proud” of how he responded.
He told MPs: “I’m deeply sorry to the customers, it’s a terrible outcome, I’m just trying to explain the circumstances.
“We have got a number of learnings that we are absolutely committed to putting in place. It was a failure.”
