PEOPLE in Craven are being urged to spend less time in the shower and let lawns go brown after water use yesterday was the highest in 15 years.

Yorkshire Water says it provided more than 1.56 billion litres of water on Monday – around 260 million litres more than usual. The increase is enough to supply the equivalent of the whole of York and Leeds and is the highest the water company has seen since 2006.

Yorkshire has seen a particularly dry spring and summer, with only 52 per cent of rainfall expected in June actually falling on the region.

Neil Dewis, director of water said: “It’s been a hot few weeks - we’ve seen unprecedented temperatures and very little rain anywhere in Yorkshire. We know our customers have been coming up with creative ways to save water – and we’d like to say a big thank you.

“Our reservoirs are still feeling the impact and levels do continue to decrease. As the ground incredibly dry, we would need a few weeks of wet weather to help them return to their usual levels, so it’s really important that people keep taking steps to save water throughout the summer.”

Top water saving tips include: taking four-minute showers, letting your lawn turn brown (it’ll bounce back at the first sight of rain!), mulching flower beds, reusing water where you can, and remembering to turn the tap off when you’re brushing your teeth.

For more information on ways to save water, visit Yorkshirewater.com/save