Gatwick Airport left without running water at both terminals

Passengers at Gatwick Airport have faced long queues for toilets and closed restaurants and bars after a major water supply outage.

Both terminals at the UK’s second busiest airport lost running water on Sunday morning after a power failure at a treatment works that serves the area.

People told the BBC of confusion and frustration as all bars and restaurants were shut, some were left with nowhere to sit and waits built up outside toilets.

Gatwick said it was still experiencing disruption and was handing out bottled water, while SES Water, the company that supplies the airport, said the power outage was fixed but water still needed to be treated before returning supply.

The company, which also supplies parts of Kent, Surrey and south London, said complications caused by a power outage at Bough Beech treatment works meant some customers had experienced low water pressure or a temporary loss of supply.

A spokesperson had earlier confirmed that Gatwick Airport was affected.

In an update just before 13:45 BST, 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.”

Gatwick apologised and said the supply issue was continuing to cause disruption on Sunday afternoon.

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 monitoring the situation and working closely with the water company to restore supplies as quickly as possible.