Don't call us about hosepipe rulebreakers - police

Police have warned people not to contact them if they see someone flouting the hosepipe ban.

Ch Supt Tracy Bradley, from Humberside Police, said breaches should instead be reported to Yorkshire Water.

She warned calls could "could divert call handlers away from dealing with emergencies or other policing matters".

The restrictions came into force on Friday and are expected to last until winter, the company's chief executive Nicola Shaw told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Anyone caught breaking the ban could be fined up to £1,000.

The company said the region had experienced its driest and warmest spring on record, with only 6 ins (15cm) of rainfall between February and June - less than half what would be expected in an average year.

In Cottingham, people living on The Parkway said they had repeatedly reported a leak which has been pumping water onto the street for "a few weeks".

"I have reported it again to Yorkshire Water," resident Quentin Bush said.

"Why should we stick to the hose pipe ban when we have leaks going on?"

In October, the Environment Agency (EA) reported that 21% of Yorkshire Water's supplies were lost due to leakage, higher than the national average of 19%.

The loss in Yorkshire equates to about 260 million litres every day.

Ms Shaw defend the firm's record on leaks.

"We've been working really hard on this and we've got less leakage from our pipes than we've ever had in Yorkshire," she said.

"We are getting to fix leaks much quicker than we ever have done before."

Elsewhere in the region allotment owners are preparing to deal with the effect of the ban on their crops.

At the Newlands Allotments in Hull, plot holder Allan Silvester said he would have to make around 20 trips a day to the communal water trough with his watering can.

"My main worry is no water, no harvest, as simple as that," he said.

"I have two allotments and it it does take a fair bit of water and if we haven't got the water then no crops."

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