United Utilities has said that in the month since a hosepipe ban was introduced, customers in the North West have saved a staggering 3.3 billion litres - the equivalent of 16 baths worth per household.

Rainfall over recent weeks is helping the reservoirs to refill. In Cumbria and North Wales reservoirs have recovered very well and they are back to the levels expected for the time of year - Haweswater and Thirlmere are now at 64% and North Wales is at 77%.

However, United Utilities said it is "a very different story" in the Pennines where there has not been the same amount of rainfall. The reservoirs are currently only 54% full overall, compared to 68% in a typical year. Pennine reservoirs supply around one third of the region's water so for this reason the hosepipe ban is remaining in place in all the areas currently affected by the ban.

Dr. Richard Blackwell, supply demand manager at United Utilities, said:

"We are very grateful to our customers for their continuing efforts to save water. After the rain over the last few weeks it is easy to forget that the first seven months of the year were the driest since our records began.

"All the rain we've had has definitely made a difference and generally our reservoirs are in a much healthier state, apart from those in the Pennines. To ease the pressure on our Pennine sources and help them recover more quickly we are using our integrated pipe network to bring in more water from Cumbria and North Wales. We will lift the hosepipe ban as soon as we can, when the reservoirs have recovered to a point where we are sure their storage will meet the needs of the North West."