Hosepipe ban ends in North West England

The hosepipe ban in the North West of England has been lifted after all the heavy rain the region's seen in recent weeks.

United Utilities say one of their main reservoirs in North Wales is now full again.

The firm said there was "significant rainfall" over the past month allowing "water resources to recover sufficiently" but customers are still asked to "use water wisely".

The July 9 ban was the first in the region for 14 years and restricted the use of hosepipes or sprinklers for watering private gardens, and washing private cars.

John Butcher from United Utilities said:

"We sent out over 250 letters to remind people of the situation but we were not required to do anything more than that and when you consider there were seven million people involved in the ban that is a really small proportion.

"We estimate it (the amount of water saved) to be 4 billion litres over the hosepipe restriction and we want to thank our customers for coming with us on this one."

The ban affected customers across Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and parts of Cheshire.