The Environment Agency has issued a drought permit to help Anglian Water save supplies during the winter.

The permit will allow Anglian water services to take a certain amount of Water from the River Nene if they ensure to reduce water demand including starting campaigns and reducing leakage. The area has struggled with low rainfall all year and an exceptionally dry and hot autumn.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “Water availability is one of the major challenges that the UK will face in the years ahead and while droughts are not new, we may face a future with less rainfall and less certainty about when that rain will fall.”

The counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and West Norfolk have had the lowest rainfall since 1921 and the agency is urging water companies in these regions to encourage their customers to use less water.