'We need to take action now to help conserve water'

YORKSHIRE WATER ANNOUNCES HOSEPIPE BAN AS ENVIRONMENT AGENCY DECLARES DROUGHT

- By LAURA CROSS

YORKSHIRE Water has announced a temporary restriction on the use of hosepipes as it says the county has experienced both the driest and warmest spring on record.

The Environment Agency has officially declared a drought in Yorkshire in June, with forecasters predicting a warm summer is still to come. The region only saw 15cm of rainfall between February and June, which is less than half of what is usually expected.

Yorkshire Water has supplied an additional 4.3 billion litres of water between April and June compared with a typical year. In order to protect reservoir stocks, residents will now face a hosepipe ban from July 11.