Hosepipe ban could soon be lifted

Britain's biggest water company, which supplies 8.8m people in the Thames Valley and London, say that heavy rainfall in April and May could see the hosepipe ban being lifted this summer.
Berkshire experienced its second wettest April since records began in 1910, with 136.6mm of rainfall, 272 per cent more than the average rainfall for April, according to the Met Office.
And provisional figures released by the Met Office for May show that Berkshire had 34.2mm of rainfall, which equates to 64 per cent of the long term May average.
Sustainability Director for Thames Water, Richard Aylard said customers’ efforts to save water during the hosepipe ban have helped reduce strain on water resources.
"The record spring rainfall has eased the situation considerably. The River Thames provides seven per cent of the water we supply to our customers and levels are now where we would expect them to be at this time of the year, and our reservoirs are still full.
"In addition we have had excellent cooperation from our customers, both in observing the restrictions and in using water wisely, and we are currently beating our leakage target by more than 60 million litres a day,” he added.
The drought status has already been lifted in many areas of the UK, including most parts of Wiltshire, the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire.