Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban after England’s warmest June on record.

The ban will begin next Tuesday for the water company’s customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire and parts of Berkshire.

No date has been given for the end of the ban.

People are being asked not to use hosepipes, including for cleaning cars, watering gardens, filling swimming pools or cleaning windows.

Only businesses where hosepipe use is part of their purpose, such as car washes or garden centres, are exempt.

But Thames Water, which keeps taps running for 16million people, warned that more postcodes may be added to the ban as ‘every drop counts’.

Which areas are affected by the hosepipe ban? • All OX postcodes • All GL postcodes • All SN postcodes • RG4, RG8, and RG9 postco

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