The hosepipe ban which has affected the Dover area since April has been lifted today.

Veolia Water Southeast said the unusually wet spring and early summer, with well above average rainfall, had enabled the company to lift the ban which was originally introduced on April 5.

Head of Operations Gavin McHale said: "We have no surface water from rivers or reservoirs to draw on and we rely on boreholes which take water from local chalk and gravel aquifers. These sources have recovered to near long term average levels and so we can lift the hosepipe ban.

"We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and support and can assure them that the water savings achieved by the restrictions have helped maintain a secure water supply in a difficult period.

"We are also asking customers to continue saving water as we may yet have another dry winter in the south east and need to conserve a scarce resource. As most of our customers are on meters they will also save money while saving water."

But Mr McHale warned that restrictions had been kept under review since they were introduced and had been lifted as soon as possible.

"We obviously wanted to minimise the inconvenience to our customers and were pleased to be able to lift restrictions after only three months. We are now confident that no further restrictions will be needed this year."