Temporary hosepipe ban confirmed across the Banbury area

A temporary hosepipe ban has been confirmed across the Banbury area.

We have previously reported that the ban was likely to be introduced after unprecedented weather conditions, including the driest July in 135 years and the hottest recorded temperatures since 1885,

Now Thames Water has confirmed that the Temporary Use Ban (TUB) will come into effect across London and the Thames Valley on August 24.

Thames Water CEO Sarah Bentley said: “Implementing a Temporary Use Ban for our customers has been a very difficult decision to make and one which we have not taken lightly. After months of below average rainfall and the recent extreme temperatures in July and August, water resources in our region are depleted. Despite investing in the largest leakage reduction programme in the UK, customer demand is at unprecedented levels and we now have to move into the next phase of our drought plan to conserve water, mitigate further risk and futureproof supplies.

“I’d like to thank all of our customers for the efforts they have already made to conserve water as a result of the media campaign we have been running since May. Reducing demand means reducing the amount of water we have to take from the environment at a time when it is under pressure. I would also like to apologise to our customers who have been affected by recent incidents, our dedicated colleagues are working around the clock to manage this challenging situation.”

For more information, visit www.thameswater.co.uk/water-restrictions

Meanwhile, bosses at GMB Union said Thames, Southern, South East, South West and Yorkshire Water have leaked equivalent of 16 million bathtubs or 500 Olympic sized swimming pools every 24 hours.

In total, the five companies wasted 460 billion litres of water in the financial year 2020/21.

GMB has long campaigned for water to be brought back into public hands.