Water companies to impose hosepipe ban Householders and businesses in London and the south-east face hosepipe bans next month ahead of the Easter holiday as drought conditions threaten water supplies. Thames Water, Britain's biggest supplier with 8.8m customers, is among seven companies introducing "temporary use bans" from April 5 after one of the driest two-year periods in southern and eastern England since records began. Southern Water, South East Water, Anglian Water, Sutton and East Surrey, Veolia Central and Veolia South East are also introducing restrictions. Martin Baggs, chief executive of Thames Water, said people ignoring the move would face prosecution although he hoped the measures, combined with appeals for customers to reduce unnecessary use of water, would result in a fall in demand. The last time we had to restrict use, in 2006, we had a fantastic response from our customers, with a 5 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. The ban means people will not be allowed to use hosepipes to water gardens, or clean cars, windows, patios or paths. The filling or maintaining of domestic swimming or paddling pools will also be banned. Preparations for the Olympics should not be affected as national and international sporting events are exempt, along with some commercial uses such as car washes. Thames is also preparing to boost supplies of domestic water in the capital through switching on a recently completed desalination plant at Beckton in east London - the first time the energy-intensive facility will have been used at full operational load. The moves come three weeks after large areas of south-east and central England were declared in drought. Caroline Spelman, environment secretary, had already warned households to expect early restrictions and added on Monday: "More areas are likely to be affected unless there is significant rainfall in the coming months." Industry leaders, summoned by the minister to a drought summit last month, have described conditions in much of south-east England as the worst since 1976. Then, Britain's worst drought in living memory led to widespread water rationing, public standpipes and recommendations that people shared baths to preserve dwindling supplies. Industry leaders suggest lack of winter rain, which largely seeps into the ground and recharges aquifers that drive the flow of rivers throughout the year, could lead to further restrictions later this year. Mr Baggs said: "With no way of knowing how long it will be before significant rainfall comes, we must plan for the worst while hoping for the best. If the dry weather continues, none of us can rule out the possibility of applying for a drought order from Defra, which would result in extended water use restrictions, most of which will affect commercial customers - something we want to avoid if at all possible. The Environment Agency's Drought Prospects report, published on Monday, warned that the drought could spread as far north as East Yorkshire and as far west as the Hampshire-Wiltshire border, if the dry weather continues this spring. Farmers groups have already warned that dry conditions threaten crop yields this year across much of Britain's most productive agricultural land, with food prices also likely to rise for consumers. These fears were backed by the Environment Agency on Monday. It warned that in the east, central and south-east of England fruit, vegetable and salad growers were under threat from continued drought, while there could also be less water available for livestock, especially housed pigs and poultry.