United Utilities has announced it will impose a hosepipe ban following the driest start to a year since its records began. It is the first hosepipe ban in the North West for 14 years.

The ban will come into force on Friday 9 July at 6am.

The ban will apply to all its customers in the North West, with the exception of customers in Carlisle, Allerdale, Copeland and the north Eden Valley, where supplies are at reasonable levels.

John Sanders, United Utilities Water Regulation and Strategy Manager, said: "Despite some recent rainfall in the north of the region, reservoir levels are still significantly lower than we would expect at this time of year and are now at a point where we need to impose some temporary restrictions on our customers.


"It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but a hosepipe can use as much water in an hour as a family of four would use in one day. This ban will help us to safeguard essential water supplies to our customers if the drought continues. "

The ban will restrict the use of hosepipes or sprinklers for watering private gardens and washing private cars.

The move follows earlier actions to maintain essential supplies, such as maximising water abstraction from ground water supplies and moving water around its regional integrated network of pipes.

"We need to be very mindful that we share our water supply with the environment and we all need to do our bit to protect supplies for the benefit not just of our own communities but also our river wildlife," added Mr Sanders.

"We will need much more significant rainfall before the position starts to turn around. We are asking our customers to please observe the hosepipe ban and do what they can to save water in other areas of their daily lives. There are some simple things we can all do such as turning off the tap while brushing your teeth and running washing machines and dishwashers with a full load."

(CD/GK)