THAMES Water is to apply to the Government for a Drought Order, which would allow the company to further restrict use of water by its five million customers in London.

The company's three million customers in the Thames Valley, where rainfall has been higher, would be unaffected by the Drought Order, if and when granted.

A Drought Order can restrict a number of uses of water, including:

* Watering by hosepipe, sprinklers or other similar apparatus, of gardens, parks and any natural or artificial surfaces used for sport or recreation. (Private gardens and allotments are already covered by the current hosepipe ban.)

* Filling privately-owned swimming pools; · cleaning the exterior of buildings, other than windows; and washing windows with a hosepipe, sprinkler or other apparatus.

A Drought Order application for the Thames Valley area (covering such areas as Banbury, Didcot, Guildford, Newbury, Oxford, Reading and Swindon) remains a possibility for later in the year.

Jeremy Pelczer, Chief Executive Officer of Thames Water, said: "We have had a hosepipe and sprinkler ban in place for two months now and, with the Environment Agency, have been looking carefully at whether further

restrictions are needed, beyond the current hosepipe and sprinkler ban.

"Taking into account all the information available to us, we now believe we may need to have further restrictions in place in our London supply area by early August. This would require a Drought Order, a decision on which would take some time.

"May's above-average rainfall dampened demand, boosted river flows and allowed us to recharge reservoirs, but the underlying situation remains serious with groundwater levels in most areas very low.

"We simply don't know how much rain we will get in the rest of the summer, and if the weather is unusually hot and dry we will need to restrict water use more than we are at present. So we believe it is sensible to apply for a Drought Order now, even though normal levels of summer rainfall would mean that further restrictions are not needed.

"Applying for a Drought Order is also an essential step in the process of getting approval from the Environment Agency to take more water from the rivers than we are normally allowed. This extra water would help us to maintain reservoir levels and make further restrictions less likely.

"No water company likes restricting its customers' use of water. We are particularly mindful of the impact a Drought Order would have on many smaller businesses. This is why we would only implement any powers granted under a Drought Order as and when necessary.

"This all depends on how much rain we get in the coming weeks, but we must ensure we can continue to provide water for essential purposes, however dry the summer might be.

"We are extremely grateful for customers' help in conserving precious supplies and ask them to keep up the good work. For our part we are, of course, forging ahead with our £1 billion programme to bring down the capital's unacceptably high leakage rates."

Thames Water's Drought Order application will require approval from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), following a public inquiry, chaired by an independent inspector.

Despite May's rainfall, base river and groundwater levels across the Thames Water region remain very low, following two consecutive very dry winters. More hot dry weather is also now forecast.