Tankers used to supply water to Suffolk and Essex in hot weather

Essex and Suffolk Water said demand for water was the highest it has been since 2007

Tankers are being used to transport hundreds of thousands of litres of water in order to meet increased demand in homes during the current hot spell.

Essex and Suffolk Water said it needs to move the water by road because it is restricted on the amount it can take from bore holes.

Last weekend more than 94m litres of water were used per day.

Martin Lunn, from the company, said levels "haven't been anywhere near that since at least 2007".

Mr Lunn said 3,000 properties were being supplied by water towers, which are topped up by the tankers.

"We have a daily limit on how much water we can draw from bore holes," he said, "so when the demand exceeds that limit we bring road tankers in to move water into the water towers.

"We're moving about seven tankers a day, which is about 200,000 litres of water."

It comes after Affinity Water announced it was experiencing supply problems for Clacton-On-Sea in Essex on Monday.

In a statement on its website, the company said more water is being used because of the warmer weather and people spending more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic.