South West Water says reservoirs are 84 per cent full.

South West Water says it foresees no need for water restrictions or hose pipe bans this summer.

The announcement comes despite the wider region now officially being in drought status.

A spokesman said: “The company’s service area, which includes Devon, Cornwall and parts of Dorset and Somerset, remains in a good position with total reservoir storage now at 84 per cent.

“Improvements to the distribution network since the 1976 drought and the transformation of two china clay pits into new reservoirs combined with an industry-leading record on tackling leakage and 1.6 million customers using less water, have all contributed to this good position.”

Neil Whiter, South West Water’s head of supply demand strategy, added: “The region is in a state of environmental drought but we would like to stress to all our customers that public water supplies remain unaffected.

“Since 1976, overall capacity has quadrupled and recently we have developed two new Cornish reservoirs – Park and Stannon – as well as continuing to improve our distribution network so we can move water to areas which need it.

“With the help of customers continuing to use less water, we forecast this will be our 16th successive summer without any form of restrictions.”

There have been no water restrictions in South West Water’s service area since 1996. Since 1976, five new reservoirs have opened – Roadford, Wimbleball, Colliford, Stannon and Park – increasing total capacity by 87,383 million litres.

Surface water sources, such as reservoirs and river intakes, provide 90 per cent of the region’s water supply. Local reservoirs are supported by three large strategic reservoirs – Colliford, Roadford and Wimbleball. Springs, wells and boreholes, account for 10 per cent of our water supplies mainly in East Devon.