HOSEPIPE BAN: Peterborough restrictions in place NOW as heatwave continues - with £1,000 fines for those who breach ban

The ban has come into force just two weeks after Anglian Water said they had no plans to impose restrictions.

The hosepipe ban was started this morning – although it will be enforced from 1am on Saturday, July 11.

The ban means residents should not use hosepipes for watering their gardens, washing cars, patios and boats or filling swimming and paddling pools.

Customers who do not comply with the restrictions may be committing an offence under the Water Industry Act 1991 and may, on conviction, be liable to a fine of up to £1,000.

Customers can report a suspected breach of the restrictions using Anglian Water’s online form or by contacting the customer service team.

This decision to introduce the ban follows months of prolonged dry weather, warm temperatures and three successive heat waves, which have seen the company producing 30% more water than usual, as well as heat-related challenges affecting normal water treatment and production.

Dr Geoff Darch, Head of Strategic Asset Planning for Anglian Water said: “This year has been exceptionally hot and dry and we're already into the third heatwave of the summer. Understandably customers have wanted to stay cool and have fun in the sun, and our teams are working 24/7 to keep taps flowing across the region, but the unrelenting conditions are placing the environment and water supplies under increasing strain. Every day of sustained hot weather increases the challenge of balancing supply and demand, and we are now at the point where we need to ask customers to help by hanging up the hosepipe, letting lawns go brown, cars go dirty and using water even more wisely to help protect the environment and ensure water remains available for all customers.

He added: “Implementing a Temporary Use Ban for our customers has been a very difficult decision to make and one which we have not taken lightly but protecting supplies to our customers and protecting our region’s precious environment in the face of such unusually hot conditions and high demand means doing everything we can to limit our non-essential water use as much as possible. We are grateful for everyone’s support.”

Recognising there have been issues with leaks in the water system, Dr Darch added: “We recognise fixing leaks is one of the most important things to our customers, and we have one of the lowest leakage levels in the UK as a result of years of focus in this area, recognising the dry region we serve. Nonetheless, we’ve upped the teams working on this throughout the spring.”

Under the terms of the ban, there will be a small number of exceptions to protect jobs, livelihoods and those who are most vulnerable. Customers can still water their gardens and grow their own fruit and vegetables if they use a watering can instead of a hose or sprinkler.

At present, the ban will only apply to the domestic use of hosepipes. A Temporary Use Ban can only be applied to domestic customers, rather than commercial customers. However, Anglian Water has been urging businesses to do their bit too in support of residents by using water wisely, for example, by not washing commercial vehicles.