While the hosepipe ban is vital to save resources, Thames Water is not looking for people to report their neighbours in Marlborough if they are seen washing their cars or watering their herbaceous borders.
“Our temporary use ban relies on the goodwill, help and co-operation of our customers,” Thames spokesman Simon Evans told Marlborough News Online. “We are not asking folks to snoop on their neighbours.”
“Perish the thought. We’re asking rather for people, if they spot someone using a hose, to have a quiet word over the garden fence to remind the hose-user to use the watering can instead.”
The problem, he pointed out, is that we have had the driest two years in the region since records began in 1884, and the aim of the hosepipe ban is to save water now so there is more to go round later.
“If you’re trying to get around the ban, then you’re missing the point,” he added. “Flouting the ban now is ultimately self-defeating as it increases the likelihood of us having to impose more serious restrictions in future.”
The latest stats on the River Kennet show that it is running at just 33 per cent of its long-term average flow at Theale, a few miles from where it joins to Thames.
The Kennet dried up west of Manton in December, and it remains dry.
Meanwhile, the Berkshire Downs received 48 per cent of the long-term average rainfall in March. That area had below-average rainfall for 21 of the past 25 months.
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