Peterborough Hosepipe Ban: Anglian Water van seen using Tesco car wash on day ban is announced
Reaction to the new hosepipe ban that has hit Peterborough has not – as you can probably guess – been positive.
The Peterborough Telegraph’s social media pages have been inundated with comments from people complaining about the new restrictions – especially with the number of leaks in Anglian Water’s systems.
While officially, the ban comes into place in the early hours of Saturday morning (July 11), Anglian Water have asked people to ‘live within the spirit of these restrictions immediately.’
A spokesperson for Anglian Water said customers should not use hosepipes for washing cars, patios and boats, watering gardens or filling swimming and paddling pools.
While the ban is for household customers, the press release about the hosepipe ban also said: “Anglian Water has been urging businesses and non-household customers to do their bit too in support of residents by being mindful of the warm weather and using water wisely, for example, by not washing commercial vehicles.”
However, just hours after the ban was announced, one Anglian Water van driver appeared not to have received that message – as they were spotted driving an Anglian Water van into the Tesco car wash at Werrington.
Bob Hillier, from https://www.thegrowingvoice.co.uk/, made the sighting at 9.45am on Friday, July 10. The notice of the hosepipe ban was issued at 6.30am that morning.
He said that while the driver may have been trying to keep his windscreen and mirrors clean ‘it's not a good look especially when farmers are struggling to irrigate crops.’
A spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “This member of the team was trying to do the right thing and uphold our normal high standards - which include keeping windscreens and mirrors clean in order to stay safe - but clearly this isn’t the time for shiny vans!
“Some of our wastewater colleagues will need to keep washing their vans regularly for hygiene reasons. But we are reminding all our teams of the importance of saving water wherever possible. Please bear with us if some of our vans aren’t as clean as usual over the next few months.”
The decision to introduce the ban follows months of prolonged dry weather, warm temperatures and three successive heatwaves.
Peterborough last experienced a hosepipe ban in 2012 after parts of the East officially entered drought. Stretching from Essex to Lincolnshire, the ban will impact more than 5 million people.