UNITED Utilities has called off the hosepipe ban due to start this weekend. 

The north west water company said cooler temperatures and recent rainfall have 'eased' the demand for water.

Dr Martin Padley, water services director, said: “We would like to thank all of our customers who have helped in recent weeks by saving water wherever they can around the home and in the garden.

“Our leakage teams are working 24 hours a day to find and repair as many leaks as possible and we have been moving water around our network.

"We have also been making operational interventions such as installation of new pumping stations, pumping between reservoirs, bringing ground water sources into use and prioritising maintenance to help ensure supplies have not been interrupted during the prolonged hot spell.

“Given the improved position, helped by recent rainfall, we do not want to inconvenience customers unnecessarily at this time.

"However, the long range forecast from the Met Office is one of relatively dry weather into the autumn, so future restrictions are still a possibility if more rain doesn’t arrive.

“In the meantime, we are continuing to step up our own response and over the coming weeks you will see our teams out and about, bringing additional water supplies on line and fixing even more leaks.

"We are working closely with the Environment Agency in monitoring the water resources situation and we still urge our customers to please help us by using water wisely where they can.” 

The ban was announced on July 17 and had been due to start on Sunday after the longest heatwave since 1976. 

The temporary ban would have affected 7 million customers.