New hosepipe ban set to impact 1.1m customers

ABOUT a million more people will face a hosepipe ban as Thames Water announced the move following one of the driest springs on record.

- LILY SHANAGHER

The company has brought in a temporary ban for about 1.1 million customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Swindon, most of Wiltshire and parts of Berkshire, from next Tuesday.

London has avoided the ban, which will be applied to postcodes beginning with OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9.

The water company has asked customers not to use hosepipes, including for cleaning cars, watering plants, filling pools or cleaning windows.

It is the latest to announce a ban after the UK experienced its warmest spring on record and the driest in more than 50 years. It was the warmest June on record in England.

The Environment Agency has placed the areas covered by Thames Water into the “prolonged dry weather category” and the water company says its drought plan is designed to mitigate the risk of further impact on water supplies and ensure taps can keep running.