Garden centres hide the hosepipes in final countdown to ban

Garden centres were today clearing their shelves of “illegal” sprinkler systems before the hosepipe ban.

The penalty for flouting the ban, which comes into force in southern and eastern England at midnight tomorrow, is a fine of up to £1,000.

Offenders will get two warnings before being prosecuted under the ban, London’s first in six years.

Water butts are in short supply, with sales reportedly “through the roof”, and there is huge demand for irrigation systems that drip water and are not covered by the ban. Buying director Conna Powles said the Haskins Garden Centre chain has seen water butt sales up 330 per cent.

The scramble for water-saving devices came as Thames Water confirmed that the Thames Valley region saw only 43 per cent of its normal rainfall last month, which was the 20th month out of the past 25 with below average rainfall.

Long-range Met Office forecasts suggest the next three months will bring warmer and drier-than-average weather to the South-East.

The 2006 ban was lifted in London in January 2007 after months of heavy rainfall, but it is feared the new restrictions could be in place for more than a year. Ground water levels are below those seen at the same time of the year in 1976.

There are already concerns about the implications of a third successive dry winter, something that has not happened in England since the late 18th century. Lord Smith of Finsbury, chairman of the Environment Agency, said: “We will be able to limp through a drought this summer but if we get another dry winter the challenges are going to be much more severe going into summer next year.”

British households are some of the most profligate water users in Europe — about 150 litres a day compared with 110 in France. Thames Water’s Simon Evans called on people to “work with the ban” and said the company did not employ “snooping tactics”.

He added: “We hope most of our highly responsible customers will understand why we are having to do this. For those who routinely flout the ban, there will be a three-strikes-and-you’re-out policy.”

Mr Evans pointed out that during the 2006 ban only one person was prosecuted — after swearing at a police officer trying to enforce it.