It makes me angry to read scare stories issued by water companies, especially Southern Water.

I drive through Sussex a lot and make a point of driving around Ardingly. Last time I was there, about a month ago, the reservoir was brimming.

This week, I flew into Gatwick and Sussex, viewed from above, didn't seem to have any drying reservoirs - quite the opposite.

It's a cheek the way water companies, such as Southern Water, increase their charges but do so little to save rain, which is free.

Only five minutes' walk from my mother's home in Upper Beeding, between Beeding and Smalldole, are several brooks. This is low-lying land, divided into fields by streams rather than hedges. These streams, controlled by sluices before they empty into the River Adur, are far from empty.

Why can't controls be placed nearer the mouth of the Adur to keep levels high during the dry summer months and control floodwater in the winter.

The water companies seem to rely on heavy rainfall to solve their problems.

If it's true they do a lot about this problem, then let's hear about it.

We have to accept the Government will build hundreds of thousands of new homes in the South- East. Somebody have a word in Mr Prescott's ear - our water utilities are already stretched.

-Michael Moore, Brighton