Wise use of water urged after wet year

The warning from several water companies came a year after droughts led to a hosepipe ban being introduced across a large swathe of the country.

But the ban, which left people facing £1,000 fines for watering their gardens, almost seemed to be the catalyst for heavy downpours, which led to 2012 becoming one of the wettest years on record.

Utilities which introduced
the ban last year, affecting 20
million people, said they had
seen stocks well replenished by the heavy rainfall but they
say wise use of water helps to prevent the potential for future shortages.