A hosepipe ban is to hit eight million people in the South East of England, after Thames Water introduced measures to tackle a water shortage.

The South East has recently suffered the worst drought it has experienced for a century, forcing the water company into action to preserve its reserves. And water companies have warned that even more stringent limits could be introduced in the summer unless there is heavy rainfall.

Hosepipe bans are already in place from the Folkestone and Dover, Three Valleys and Thames water companies.

However the GMB union has claimed that the bans are unnecessary. It believes the bans will be ineffective, as it argued the problem was that insufficient amounts of water were being collected.

And to solve the problem, it called for utilities firms to introduce measures to increase the collection of water – such as through the construction of reservoirs.