HOUSEHOLDS across Swindon will be subject to a hosepipe ban from next month.

Yesterday Thames Water, which serves the town, was one of seven water firms to announce the move, which comes into effect on April 5, as the Environment Agency warned of severe drought in the coming months.

Thames Water is to impose a hosepipe ban on all its 8.8 million water customers.

It said groundwater levels in the region were close to the lowest ever recorded, and many tributaries of the River Thames are running very low, particularly the River Pang, which is running at a third of average flows in Berkshire.

Martin Baggs, chief executive of Thames Water, said: “We have been doing as much as we can ourselves to save water, reducing leakage by a third since its peak in 2004 to its lowest-ever level, and hitting our leakage-reduction targets five years running.

“The additional step being announced, which we are not taking lightly, comes after two consecutive dry winters. Groundwater levels in the aquifers, which we rely on for both borehole and river supplies, are well below where we would normally expect them to be. In some cases they are at their lowest levels ever recorded at this time of year.

“We know these restrictions will be unpopular, but they will save a lot of water. A garden sprinkler uses as much water in an hour as a family of four uses in a day, and when water is in short supply the needs of families must come first. We want to encourage everyone to continue to voluntarily save as much of this precious resource as possible, so there is enough to go around all our customers, however long it stays dry.”

Under the terms of the ban, customers can still water their gardens and clean their cars provided they use either a watering can or a bucket, not a hose.

Mr Baggs said that anyone who wilfully breaches the terms of the water-use bans could be prosecuted.

“We would much prefer to get results asking for people's help, understanding and co-operation,” he said.

“The last time we had to restrict use, in 2006, we had a fantastic response from our customers, with a five per cent reduction in water use on average. Now, with water again in very short supply, we’re hoping for at least that scale of response.”