Sutton and East Surrey Water has announced a hosepipe ban.

The move by the company, which serves Gatwick, will come into effect today.

The firm has already banned sprinklers and unattended hosepipes since April last year.

Southern Water and South East Water are also operating full hosepipe bans in Sussex.

The Environment Agency has called for all water companies in the South-East to adopt the same drought measure by April.

Mike Hegarty, Sutton and East Surrey Water's operations director, said: "We are facing a one in 100-year drought and must take action to safeguard supplies.

"We are not running out of water but the resource situation is serious and must be safe-guarded.

"The underground water resources, from which we gain 85 per cent of our supplies, are at their lowest levels for almost a century.

"Water resources are dependent on rainfall from autumn to early spring recharging the underground aquifers that provide our water.

"We have had almost 30 per cent less rain in the past 18 months than the region normally receives.

"So much rain is now needed that there is virtually no chance of the aquifers recharging before next winter."

Dave Willis, of the Environment Agency, said: "Sutton and East Surrey Water is acting responsibly by introducing a full hosepipe ban at this stage.

"Further restrictions cannot be ruled out as summer approaches if rainfall continues to be scarce."

Wednesday, March 1, 2006