A water company that has thousands of customers in Essex has said it's hosepipe ban could be in place for "several months".
Anglian Water introduced a temporary use ban to help protect water supplies and the environment during the continued dry conditions.
A spokesman for the company said: “While the decision was not taken lightly, proactively introducing a Temporary Use Ban is helping to protect the environment as the hot, dry weather continues through the summer.
“We won’t lift the ban until we’re confident that we’ve had enough rain for river and reservoir levels to improve to healthy levels to protect the environment.
“Even with rain forecast over the coming weeks, we will not be able to remove the hosepipe ban until water resources have returned to normal levels.
“The exceptionally dry and hot weather has left many sources that are relied upon to supply our customers at exceptionally low levels, so this recovery will require a long and sustained period of rain, which could take several months depending on the area.”
Customers are being urged to continue using water carefully while the restrictions are in force, with the firm warning that short periods of rainfall will not be enough to restore supplies to normal levels.
