Water company announces hosepipe ban

South East Water announced the temporary hosepipe and sprinklers ban on Friday

A temporary hosepipe and sprinklers ban affecting more than 1.4 million residents across Kent and Sussex will be enforced on 18 July.

South East Water said demand for drinking water has "reached record levels" since May due to the extended spell of warm and dry weather.

The ban, announced on Friday, prohibits the use of a hosepipe for activities such as watering the garden, washing the car or filling a paddling pool. Anyone flouting the restriction could be fined up to £1,000.

Chief executive David Hinton said: "Despite asking for customers' help to use water for essential uses only, we've been left with no choice but to introduce this temporary restriction."

Operations director for South East Water, Douglas Whitfield, urged residents to be mindful of water usage, particularly this warm weekend.

He told Radio Sussex it has been an "incredibly challenging five years" for the water industry due to increased weather extremes.

"We are seeing wetter winters followed by longer, drier periods of heatwaves in the summer," he said.

"In the long term we are putting more infrastructure to deal with those changes.

"Water supply resources have been significantly stretched, but we are pleased so far we have been able to largely meet customer demands."

South East Water said it saw the highest levels of water usage so far on 30 June, reaching 680 million litres - which was 105 million litres of water a day more than the average for summer.

The company said it continues to monitor the situation in its Western region, where it serves customers in parts of Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.

Mr Hinton added: "Hosepipe restrictions are an integral part of our drought mitigation in the UK and are designed to protect supplies and the environment."

South East Water has not indicated when the ban will be lifted, but it will "continue to monitor the weather forecast and will review the decision on a regular basis".

The government previously said England experienced its driest spring since 1893.

The first hosepipe ban to be declared in the UK this year was in Yorkshire.

Thames Water has warned it might impose a hosepipe ban unless the water shortage situation "changes significantly".

Prof Jess Neumann, a hydrology expert from University of Reading, said it was "not surprising" to see a hosepipe ban given the recent spell of warm weather.

She added hosepipe bans can be effective in encouraging people to be aware of their usage and provided water saving advice.

"Do consider letting your lawn go yellow, capturing water if you are running the tap and turning off the tap while brushing your teeth," she added.

"For water companies, it's imperative we see more investments in technology fixing things like leaks which is critical for saving water."