Thames Water tells customers to ‘fix leaky loos' amid hosepipe ban fears
The water company has written to households urging them to 'be mindful' about water usage, but stopped short of implementing a hosepipe ban despite Britain facing its driest spring in 69 years. Thames Water, which provides water to 16 million people across London and the south of England, told customers to 'avoid wasting water and fix leaky loos and dripping taps as soon as you can'.
It said doing so would allow the company to keep reservoirs full and make sure there would be enough water to withstand dry periods. It comes as five regions across the north of England were moved to drought status by the Environment Agency (EA) because reservoirs and rivers are at such low levels. On Thursday, the EA moved Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria, and Lancashire from 'prolonged dry weather' to drought status, with reservoirs and rivers at low levels.
'A hosepipe ban is certainly possible'
The decision indicated a looming hosepipe ban, according to Dr Jess Neumann, associate professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, who said: 'Putting the North West into a drought status tells the water company they need to start putting into place their drought action plan.
'That will include telling people to use their water in a more conservative way, to be mindful. A hosepipe ban is certainly possible, that is the way it is looking.'
She added that without 'steady, constant rainfall for a good couple of months', a hosepipe ban was 'on the horizon'.
Thames Water has no plans for a hosepipe ban at this stage, The Telegraph understands.
A spokesman for the firm said: 'April 2025 saw significantly less rain than the year before, and we do encourage customers to use water wisely through the spring and summer months.
'Our water resources are in a healthy place ahead of this summer, as rainfall was above average through the winter months. Of note, our reservoir levels are at 95 per cent. Groundwater levels also remain above average for this time of year for most of the areas in which we operate.
'We all have a role to play when it comes to saving water. It is a precious resource, and we need to value it, which is why we are asking everyone to play their part in reducing use.'
The last hosepipe ban was introduced by South East Water in June 2023 and affected people in Kent and Sussex. In 2022, a drought and a series of record heatwaves led five water companies to impose a ban on a total of 19 million customers to ensure drinking and wastewater services were prioritised.
Chris Weston, Thames Water's chief executive, said the company had learnt the lessons from that summer, when it was reported that it came 'dangerously close' to running out of water.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
China is being urged to explain 'secret basement' under its London 'mega-embassy'
has ordered China to explain why it has redacted blueprints for its 'mega-embassy' set to be built in London, amid fears the building's basement rooms could be converted into 'spy dungeons'. As Housing Secretary, Rayner has given Beijing two weeks to either provide unredacted plans, according to the FT. If China does not do this, the deputy prime minister has ordered it to 'identify precisely and comprehensively' the withheld parts and explain why the floorplan for the basement and other areas of the Royal Mint Court development have been 'greyed out'. According to Rayner's letter to the Chinese embassy, she highlighted that two suites of anonymous rooms and a tunnel were redacted 'for security reasons'. Other buildings on the plans were also partly greyed out, including the Cultural Exchange Building and Embassy House. It also highlights a Home Office request for a 'hard perimeter' around the embassy that may represent a 'material amendment to the application that would require further consultation'. The letter asked for further information in order for the Housing Secretary to make a 'lawful determination' on whether to allow the site to go up, adding that 'no view has been formed yet.' The new embassy, if built, would sit opposite the Tower of London in the former Royal Mint and would be China's largest in Europe. Critics fear the site will become the centre of increased espionage operations and may be used to harass Chinese dissidents. The US has already expressed 'deep concern' over the project, as it sits close to the City of London, home to some of the world's largest financial institutions. MPs in the Netherlands have also raised similar concerns. The site was sold to China by the UK government in 2018 for £255million. A full decision on whether the embassy will be allowed to be built will be made by September. It comes after diplomatic sources warned the Mail on Sunday that the new embassy will have on-site accommodation for more than 200 intelligence officers. A source said: 'There will effectively be a student-style campus for spies in the heart of the City. 'And those spy dungeons are so deep that the sensitive cables are virtually at head height.' The MoS can also reveal that the embassy plans exempt a 'cultural exchange' section from 'inspection and verification' by UK authorities. A US security source said 'cultural interests/exchange' is a 'euphemism for intelligence and security services', adding: 'It's where they often stuff their security and intelligence staff, among other diplomats. 'And if it's a "cultural" centre/space, why do they always declare it off limits in planning documents?' Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'Everywhere there is a mega embassy... Chinese state-sponsored, trans-national repression of those who have fled the Chinese state or who criticise it grows dramatically. 'It's simple: a bigger embassy has more spies and more repression.' Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said Labour had been 'caught red-handed trying to ram through this sinister embassy' in a 'desperate attempt to woo the Chinese Communist Party to bail out their failing economic policies'. He added: 'It is shocking Labour want to sign a legal document that will ban British officials checking what is being built in the embassy building. This is yet another surrender document from a Labour Government that puts foreign interests over British interests.' 'The so-called cultural exchange will clearly be used by Chinese spies and communist bullies to further their political ends.'
Telegraph
5 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘Cosmetic cowboys' to be banned from carrying out Brazilian butt lifts
'Cosmetic cowboys' will be banned from performing high-risk procedures under new Government plans. The crackdown follows incidents in which patients have been maimed, and deaths linked to poor care and rogue operators. Under the measures, only qualified healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses will be able to deliver procedures such as Brazilian butt lifts. These will only be able to be carried out by providers regulated by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission. Clinics administering Botox and fillers will have to meet new standards and be licenced by councils. Under-18s will be banned from high risk procedures, such as injectables, amid concerns that children needed to be protected from 'dangerous beauty trends on social media'. Health officials said the steps aimed to protect the public from 'rogue operators' with no medical training, who often provided 'invasive' procedures in homes, hotels and pop-up clinics. The move would also reduce the cost imposed upon the NHS to fix botched procedures, the Department of Health and Social Care said. Karin Smyth, the health minister, said: 'The cosmetics industry has been plagued by a wild west of dodgy practitioners and procedures. There are countless horror stories of 'cosmetic cowboys' causing serious, catastrophic damage. 'This Government is taking action to protect those seeking treatments, support honest and competent practitioners, and root out the cowboys as part of our Plan for Change. 'This isn't about stopping anyone from getting treatments – it's about preventing rogue operators from exploiting people at the expense of their safety and keeping people safe. We're giving them peace of mind and reducing the cost to the NHS of fixing botched procedures.' Those who break the rules on high-risk procedures could face sanctions from the watchdog and financial penalties. The department said it would launch a consultation next year, seeking views on the range of procedures that should be covered by the new restrictions. Last month, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warned that fat injections, Brazilian butt lifts, Botox and fillers are being offered by untrained people in places such as public toilets. There have also been concerns about rising numbers of people poisoned by fake Botox, leaving consumers struggling with breathing and swallowing problems, and slurred speech, after suffering from botulism. Millie Kendall, the chief executive of the British Beauty Council, said: 'Any measures that increase protection for the general public and professionalise the industry will help instil confidence, as well as helping to prevent the normalisation of horror stories that have become synonymous with our sector.' Ashton Collins, the director of Save Face, a register of accredited practitioners, said: 'I am delighted that the Government has recognised the significant and potentially fatal risks posed by highly dangerous procedures like liquid Brazilian butt lifts and has made it a priority to implement restrictions to protect public safety. 'I have seen first-hand the devastating impact these procedures can have on the lives of victims and their families, none more so than the family of Alice Webb.' Webb died last year, aged 33, after suffering complications from having a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift, which involved cosmetic fluid being injected into her buttocks. The mother-of-five worked in the beauty industry and lived in Gloucestershire.
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rate fillip for dismal housing: Reeves must ring the changes to get Britain building, says ALEX BRUMMER
During the run-up to the July 2024 election, economic journalists were invited along for an informal chat with the future Chancellor Rachel Reeves. She argued that growth would be a priority for a Labour government and a key part of the programme would be to get Britain building again. The UK has been poor at delivering infrastructure and in the past housing targets have been hard to meet. Tearing up planning rules was always going to be difficult because of Britain's long history of Nimbyism. More than a year into power, and with reforms to planning rules falling into place, brisk progress was to be expected. But the S&P report from UK construction managers for July doesn't offer optimism. It shows the steepest fall in activity since May 2020. The biggest drop came from residential, putting the Government's target of building 1.5m homes in this Parliament in jeopardy. Construction firms cited site delays, fewer new orders and weak consumer confidence as factors. We shouldn't be surprised. Interest rates have proved sticky despite four decreases since Labour took office. The Bank of England is expected to offer a quarter of a percentage point reduction to 4 per cent today. Bad tax policy has played a part. Employment costs are up because of the employers' National Insurance Contributions rise. And the abolition of tax relief on stamp duty at the bottom rung of the ladder makes the aspiration to be part of a property-owning democracy harder. To add to the woes of those seeking a construction revolution, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has joined the Nimbys – he objects to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner giving permission to four councils to build over allotments. That's bad for working people, for homegrown produce and the nation's health. Another unforced error. America first The fascinating aspect of commodity trader and miner Glencore's decision to stick with a London listing is its reasoning. Moving to New York, the favoured option, involved 'significant costs'. Its chief executive Gary Nagle might also have pointed out that, with some rare exceptions such as smart chip maker Arm and building group CRH, American investors have not greeted the British arrivals with hosannas. Nagle also rued the fact that there was no certainty that £36billion Glencore would be granted entry to the S&P 500 because of coolness to foreigners. The loss of Glencore would have been serious for London, with its strong history of hosting natural resources companies. BHP retreated to Sydney and if activists had their way Rio Tinto might have done the same. Glencore would have been a less significant departure than AstraZeneca or Shell, both of which have flirted with the idea. Not all is green on the other side of the Atlantic, where AstraZeneca is vowing to invest £37billion. Overnight, the US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr halted production of mRNA vaccines on a whim. Indeed, Astra's first-to-market Covid jab was slow to be approved in the US, where 'America first' vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were preferred. It is not just US President Donald Trump and the Republicans who willingly bash overseas investors. President Barack Obama humiliated oil giant BP over the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 – leading to tens of billions of pounds of losses for UK investors. Glencore's vote of confidence in Britain might be seen by cynics as a distraction from a disappointing performance in the first half. The miner is responding with a pledge to cut $1billion in costs. Never underestimate the odds of it roaring back on robust trading operations. Oven ready It was predictable that supermarket Morrisons would have to jettison assets to pay down the debt it acquired when it fell under the private ownership of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2023. That is unlikely to be enough in a highly competitive grocery market. Prices are generally higher than at rivals and it may require a fresh look at costly specialist counters and whether the vertical model, from farm to customer, is sustainable. That would be a pity.
