:00:13. > :00:18.Hello. We are alive from the headquarters of Anglian Water. I am
:00:18. > :00:25.here to put your questions to the bosses. Who will be affected and
:00:25. > :00:28.who is not? Safety warnings and the Essex
:00:28. > :00:34.Street where a gas blast caused devastation.
:00:34. > :00:43.We are back to see how the changes to the Olympic mountain biking
:00:43. > :00:46.course have gone down with Team Great Britain.
:00:46. > :00:50.Let's hope your garden is fed and watered because, for most of us,
:00:50. > :00:52.from midnight tonight a hosepipe ban comes into force. I'm at the
:00:52. > :00:56.headquarters of our biggest water company, Anglian Water, and I am
:00:56. > :00:58.here to put your questions to the people in charge. They have
:00:58. > :01:08.4.3million customers in this region from Northampton and Milton Keynes
:01:08. > :01:09.
:01:09. > :01:11.in the west to Norfolk in the East. This ban affects all of them and
:01:11. > :01:17.also a million customers who get their water from Veolia Central,
:01:17. > :01:22.the old Three Valleys Water. So how will it affect you? Without a
:01:22. > :01:26.hosepipe you can't water the garden or clean the car or boat. You can't
:01:26. > :01:30.fill a swimming pool or a paddling pool. And you can't clean paths or
:01:30. > :01:33.patios. But there are some exceptions. These people are not
:01:33. > :01:38.included. Blue badge holders, people with ponds which have fish
:01:38. > :01:41.in them and business users. But what happens if you ignore the ban?
:01:41. > :01:44.Well, the water companies can impose a fine of a �1,000. But
:01:44. > :01:51.Anglian Water say they hope it won't come to that and that they
:01:51. > :01:56.will "Take steps to remind" people found using a hosepipe.
:01:56. > :02:06.All of this on the day the rain finally came. So who can and who
:02:06. > :02:06.
:02:06. > :02:10.can't keep the tap running? This report from Alex Dunlop. Make the
:02:10. > :02:16.most of today's downpour, it could be the only way your garden gets a
:02:16. > :02:23.good soaking from now on. But the rules on who can and cannot use a
:02:24. > :02:30.hosepipe are clear cut, they will not apply to businesses. Selling
:02:30. > :02:38.turf, a like this is this, are aggrieved because people cannot
:02:38. > :02:42.water their garden. We want an exemption of 28 days for people to
:02:42. > :02:47.water neuter. People have to go through the winter earning next to
:02:47. > :02:53.nothing, and with this band in the spring, which should be a good time,
:02:54. > :03:03.they are being kicked in the teeth. Where some lose out, others gain.
:03:04. > :03:04.
:03:04. > :03:10.This company cannot cope with the demand for water butts. We have
:03:10. > :03:14.sold half as many water butts in one month as we did in last year.
:03:14. > :03:20.The shadow water minister and Luton MP says thousands of firms will be
:03:20. > :03:23.hit by the hosepipe ban. We need the long awaited reforms that the
:03:23. > :03:28.government promised to make sure they can do more on water
:03:28. > :03:36.efficiency. We know climate change means this will be an increasingly
:03:36. > :03:44.frequent problem. There are some inconsistencies which allow car
:03:44. > :03:50.washing but not other issues, you cannot use a hosepipe in this way.
:03:50. > :03:55.We need to sort this out. From tomorrow we will revisit the
:03:55. > :04:01.drought of 1990, the last time a hosepipe ban was imposed. The next
:04:01. > :04:08.starts in a 5 1/2 hours and local authorities will have to turn up --
:04:08. > :04:12.turn off some taps, and ornamental fountains. This sports club sources
:04:12. > :04:18.its water from a private borehole. Hopefully the restrictions will not
:04:18. > :04:23.stop us, we are allowed to take out these litres, hopefully we should
:04:23. > :04:30.be all right. The hosepipe ban is bound to affect many and infuriate
:04:30. > :04:39.some. How long will it go on for? That is anybody's guess. The one
:04:39. > :04:49.two decades ago lasted 288 days. want to hear from you during this
:04:49. > :04:52.
:04:53. > :04:57.programme. You know the address, I am sure. Please do get in touch.
:04:57. > :05:04.Why can these people not use water from the hosepipe? The last thing
:05:04. > :05:10.we would want to do is put a business in jeopardy, but, they use
:05:10. > :05:15.an awful lot of water. It will take 28 days on average for the Turf, it
:05:15. > :05:21.get through a 1000 litres of water an hour, a hosepipe, and we must
:05:21. > :05:26.realise we are in a serious drought. You are considering this though?
:05:26. > :05:32.were looking for a way forward at industry level, especially for turf
:05:32. > :05:36.sellers. Will the rain today make any difference at all? It will help
:05:36. > :05:42.with the gardens but not the drought situation. The way the
:05:42. > :05:48.water system works is it recharges through the autumn, October-March.
:05:48. > :05:52.We had two very dry winters, and it needs to rain an awful lot. We have
:05:52. > :05:57.got lots of questions for you. Please keep them coming in. We will
:05:57. > :06:00.give them to Martin during the second half of the programme.
:06:00. > :06:03.Every time somebody stops us doing anything somebody will feel hard
:06:03. > :06:09.done by, especially if the ban affects them but not the person
:06:09. > :06:15.living next door. Let's go live to Kim Riley in Suffolk. Yes. I am in
:06:15. > :06:21.the market town here, is reverse winding in from the distance, and
:06:21. > :06:25.it has been raining. I am standing on the bridge on Bridge Street. If
:06:25. > :06:31.I move in this direction and point you to those houses, they get water
:06:31. > :06:37.from Essex and Suffolk Water. No hosepipe ban for them at midnight,
:06:37. > :06:42.but a few yards down, of the bridge, talk to these people and they have
:06:42. > :06:48.the water from Anglian Water and will have a ban from midnight. I
:06:48. > :06:54.have people on either side of the divide here. You can carry on using
:06:54. > :07:02.your hosepipe with gay abandon. we can. And our next door
:07:02. > :07:07.neighbours can be fined �1,000 if they use theirs. You won't be doing
:07:07. > :07:12.that? No, it is grossly unfair when your neighbour is in that situation
:07:12. > :07:17.and you can use as much as you want. Philip, can I come to you. How do
:07:17. > :07:22.you feel about the ban? People will lose things from their garden, you
:07:22. > :07:27.cannot get that on him of water without a hosepipe. You cannot be
:07:27. > :07:32.expected to transport used amounts in cans. It will be very difficult
:07:32. > :07:37.for the Cricket Club, it will be a struggle. Especially if we have
:07:37. > :07:42.another very dry period. Our I know you have strong views about us
:07:42. > :07:48.being careful with water. I think we are very careless. It is a
:07:48. > :07:54.finite thing. We live in a semi- arid part, we are dry here than
:07:54. > :07:57.Spain is. I think we should be more careful with our water. We should
:07:57. > :08:03.conserve it and be more respectful of it which we are not at the
:08:03. > :08:09.moment. I am a great believer in what they call grey water, saving
:08:09. > :08:14.the bath water and putting it in water butts, and using the water
:08:14. > :08:18.from milk bottles to water the plants as well. A lot of ways we
:08:18. > :08:24.can conserve water if we really put our thinking caps on and drive.
:08:24. > :08:28.Thank you. You were telling me, Philip, it was the other way round.
:08:28. > :08:38.The people this end had be banned and that end did not. We have come
:08:38. > :08:42.
:08:42. > :08:47.In some parts of the region have a ban and other parts do not argue
:08:47. > :08:51.doing something wrong? All of our customers are affected and we are
:08:51. > :08:57.very clear, we are bringing it in because we need to because of the
:08:57. > :09:03.drought. It is the first time for 20 years. The if they can do it
:09:03. > :09:07.without a hosepipe ban, why can't without a hosepipe ban, why can't
:09:07. > :09:17.you? We are restricted by Our county boundaries. Will people get
:09:17. > :09:17.
:09:17. > :09:25.a rebate if they cannot use their We are using company and
:09:25. > :09:34.shareholder money, which customers will not pay, as well. Why can't we
:09:34. > :09:41.have desalination plants? It costs are about �100 more per litre to
:09:41. > :09:45.generate. Up until now we have had to dry winters. We are not the
:09:45. > :09:51.Sahara. The impact on water bills would be significant if we had gone
:09:51. > :09:56.down that route. Jonathan said the hosepipe ban is spin and propaganda
:09:56. > :10:01.from the hosepipe companies. There is no spin, we are in a serious
:10:01. > :10:05.drought. I think everybody knows that. You can ban people from using
:10:05. > :10:10.hosepipes, but what about the water companies themselves. He is on
:10:10. > :10:15.about leakage, you are losing water through leakage. You were doing
:10:15. > :10:20.very poor last year. We had a bad year last year. During the winter
:10:20. > :10:24.when pipes burst. In order to keep customers on we kept pressure on
:10:24. > :10:31.those points. We did miss our leakage target. We will not this
:10:31. > :10:36.year, we are better. We have 60 extra leakage technicians, who we
:10:36. > :10:39.hired in the autumn, to reduce it. We will never be happy with it.
:10:39. > :10:47.we did not have any leakage we would not have a hosepipe ban,
:10:47. > :10:52.true? No. We would still have a drought. We have got 40,000
:10:52. > :10:57.kilometres of pipe. It would go round the world once in length and
:10:57. > :11:01.pipes to leak. Leakage per plumber to is about six cubic metres, half
:11:01. > :11:06.of the industry average. We are not complacent but are working very
:11:06. > :11:10.hard. We have many more questions coming in. We look forward to
:11:10. > :11:14.speaking to you in the second half of the programme. Call or send an
:11:14. > :11:24.e-mail now if you have a question. That will be after a round-up of
:11:24. > :11:26.
:11:26. > :11:29.In it has been revealed today that metal thieves may have been
:11:29. > :11:34.responsible for the gas explosion which shattered a residential
:11:34. > :11:37.street in Clacton. The theory emerged as investigations continued
:11:37. > :11:41.into the cause of the blast on Monday. A woman remained in a
:11:41. > :11:48.serious condition in hospital. Investigators know when the gas
:11:48. > :11:53.explosion happened because this clock in the rubble stopped at
:11:53. > :11:59.2:28pm. But as this expert knows, finding out why it happened will be
:11:59. > :12:03.more difficult. One line of inquiry will be metal theft. There have
:12:03. > :12:08.been incidents of metal theft in the area, although it is clearly
:12:08. > :12:14.too early to say it if it was the case here. The thefts have been the
:12:14. > :12:17.same street as Monday's explosion. His property had gas pipe stolen,
:12:17. > :12:22.the pipes were replaced but not long afterwards they were stolen
:12:22. > :12:27.again. One of the houses next door to that destroyed is managed by a
:12:27. > :12:32.local estate agency and says it is all too aware of metal theft.
:12:32. > :12:36.know that gas pipes have been taken from the side of buildings,
:12:36. > :12:44.electrical cables being taken off the side of buildings. Similar to
:12:44. > :12:48.the rail tracks losing their cables. Investigating these loss adjusters,
:12:48. > :12:52.the National Grid issued this safety advice. If you smell gas
:12:52. > :12:55.which of all appliances and the meter. Open all doors and the
:12:55. > :13:01.windows and do not turn electricity on or off as it can trigger the
:13:01. > :13:04.condition. Meanwhile national newspapers have nicknamed this
:13:04. > :13:13.hamster lucky because it survived the explosion at subsequent fire
:13:13. > :13:20.A teenage girl has been raped after being taken to a house in London
:13:20. > :13:25.Road in Pitsea. She was taken to a nearby house where she was attacked.
:13:25. > :13:29.Police are looking for a sighting of the girl by the barge pub. The
:13:29. > :13:33.Liberal Democrats have published their original manifesto for the
:13:33. > :13:40.elections. The party leader says that he is doing all it can to
:13:40. > :13:47.support hard-working families. A year ago, the Liberal Democrats
:13:47. > :13:51.controlled five councils, and our control just won it. The Liberal
:13:51. > :13:54.Democrats are always enthusiastic at election time. Despite barely
:13:54. > :14:00.making double figures in the opinion polls, they are put in a
:14:00. > :14:05.lot of effort in. This is Cambridge, where they have one -- run the
:14:05. > :14:10.council since 2000. But last year, they lost four seats here. The Lib
:14:11. > :14:19.Dems part of the coalition has made him unpopular with some boaters.
:14:19. > :14:24.The manifesto is championing achievements in government. We want
:14:24. > :14:28.to argue the case for what we are doing in government, and a home --
:14:28. > :14:33.our whole message is about hard- working families that need a bit of
:14:33. > :14:37.break -- bit of a break. He a much stick are you getting? We find that
:14:37. > :14:43.the reaction is very good. People, on the whole, understand that
:14:43. > :14:50.things are really difficult. We are clearing up an enormous economic
:14:50. > :14:55.mess. 10 years ago, the Lib Dems were celebrating taking control of
:14:55. > :14:59.Norwich City Council. Now play are down to four seats, squeezed by
:14:59. > :15:07.Labour and the Green Party. But Nick Clegg says he expects to make
:15:07. > :15:11.gains this year. He admits it is going to be hard work. Eight
:15:11. > :15:16.writers' Centre in Norwich has been given �3 million by the Arts
:15:16. > :15:26.Council to expand its facilities. It is also hoping to raise another
:15:26. > :15:27.
:15:28. > :15:36.Norwich has always seen it -- seen itself as a cultural centre. Now it
:15:36. > :15:40.wants to create a writers' centre with an international reputation.
:15:40. > :15:46.In collaboration with the City Council, the University of East
:15:46. > :15:51.Anglia and the Arts Council, the centre will have hits -- had its
:15:51. > :15:58.home in this eighteenth-century building. It will be a space to
:15:58. > :16:04.teach writing. There is going to be a cafe, bar and performance space.
:16:04. > :16:08.This space is for writers. This man is a writer who moved to Norwich
:16:08. > :16:14.three years ago. I think it is a fantastic idea. It is great for
:16:14. > :16:19.writers like me, who often do their work at the dining room table with
:16:19. > :16:25.lots of distractions. It is good to have a place where I can go and not
:16:25. > :16:30.have to worry about having to buy another of three cups of coffee.
:16:30. > :16:33.Norwich is already well known for a creative writing course at the
:16:33. > :16:43.University of East Anglia. The International Centre for writing
:16:43. > :16:50.
:16:51. > :16:55.will need another �7 million. It is It has been a big day for the
:16:55. > :17:01.region's two Olympic venues. The GB mountain-biking team were on the
:17:01. > :17:06.course in have to farm in Essex. And at Lee Valley in Hertfordshire,
:17:06. > :17:11.the Whitewater canoeists were also in action. It is approaching crunch
:17:11. > :17:16.time for the GB team, because next week is the Olympic trials. We will
:17:16. > :17:21.find out who is in the team and who isn't. They have drained the course
:17:21. > :17:31.for now. They do that when they are not training. We were keeping an
:17:31. > :17:31.
:17:31. > :17:36.eye on these athletes. Do you think you have the measure of the course,
:17:36. > :17:40.or does it kicking from time to course -- time to time? Its early
:17:41. > :17:46.kicks in from time to time. It is one of the most difficult and
:17:46. > :17:50.complicated courses in the world, and you do not get a moment of
:17:50. > :17:55.relaxation, because it comes back to buy two. Can you explain what it
:17:55. > :17:59.will mean to qualify for the Olympics? To not qualify would be
:17:59. > :18:05.very disappointing. We have worked really hard and put a lot of effort
:18:05. > :18:12.in. Our lives can go on. We are happy with what we have done. We
:18:12. > :18:18.have done an awful lot of good stuff. It is just the biggest deal
:18:18. > :18:22.for sport in our country, perhaps ever to this point. It is going to
:18:22. > :18:26.be absolutely awesome. It will be great to be a part of it, and just
:18:26. > :18:36.what a fantastic price. What a brilliant thing to do. It will be
:18:36. > :18:41.so called to be part of it. Champagne will be on view. The
:18:41. > :18:46.Olympic mountain bikers were also in action at Hadleigh Farm in Essex.
:18:46. > :18:51.They were checking out the course there. We were with them. If you
:18:51. > :18:59.are looking for a bike ride in the countryside, you have come to the
:18:59. > :19:09.right place. It is very challenging technically. You want a hard race
:19:09. > :19:20.
:19:20. > :19:27.in an Olympic Games. You are Hadleigh Farm and its heels --
:19:27. > :19:30.Hills have become harder. From extended climbs to the rock garden.
:19:30. > :19:39.The world's riders better brace themselves. The course is getting
:19:39. > :19:49.harder and harder every year. We want to stay ahead of the game.
:19:49. > :19:57.the race, you don't think about anything. You do what you do.
:19:57. > :20:01.about 170 metres of climbing per lap. Today, it was about unveiling
:20:01. > :20:06.what will be there after the Olympics has -- Olympics have been
:20:06. > :20:11.and gone. The pub will be improved for walkers, runners and those on
:20:11. > :20:15.horseback. How it will be paid for is still unclear. We don't want to
:20:15. > :20:21.burden the council tax payer in the future. We want to develop a plan.
:20:21. > :20:26.It will enable us to fund the course, and fund further
:20:26. > :20:31.development for the country for pluck. Thousands of people are
:20:31. > :20:41.expected to come here in August. Have the part's legacy will be
:20:41. > :20:44.
:20:44. > :20:53.slightly smoother. The park will be open after the Games. It is good
:20:53. > :20:58.news, and let's hope it is good news for an athlete here. One of
:20:58. > :21:02.Newmarket's's racing stables it is to be turned into a heritage centre.
:21:02. > :21:08.The Palace House stables will be restored, and the site transformed
:21:08. > :21:11.into a venue celebrating Newmarket's history. It will have
:21:11. > :21:21.paintings donated by the British Sporting Art Trust. Let's go back
:21:21. > :21:27.
:21:27. > :21:36.Welcome back to Anglian Water. By and with the customer services
:21:36. > :21:42.director, Martin Oakley. This one from Fiona Bailey. I have a garden
:21:42. > :21:50.teeming with wildlife. Cannot fill it if it starts getting low?
:21:50. > :21:59.cannot fillet with a hosepipe. Rainwater is fine, but not with a
:21:59. > :22:05.hosepipe. I have chickens, dogs and cats. Will I be able to use a
:22:05. > :22:10.hosepipe to fill containers? Yes, you can. That is protecting
:22:10. > :22:17.livestock and health and safety, and the welfare of animals. That is
:22:18. > :22:25.included. You just fill their containers. Correct. Can a lawn
:22:25. > :22:30.bowls club use a limited amount of water? No. The nose sporting
:22:30. > :22:37.activities? We have made an exception where there is a health
:22:37. > :22:42.and safety impact, and with cricket pitches, for example, it is better
:22:42. > :22:51.to keep it safe. If there is a health and safety implication, that
:22:51. > :22:55.is fine. Anglian Water paid a dividend of millions of pounds to
:22:55. > :23:03.its shareholders, despite the leaks. What is the correlation between
:23:04. > :23:12.these two facts? We are investing �3 billion over five years in the
:23:13. > :23:19.local economy and investing in our in its but -- infrastructure. We
:23:19. > :23:26.are managing drought, and protecting our supplies. �100
:23:26. > :23:32.million to manage drought. �100 million to protect future water
:23:32. > :23:38.supplies. That will not be passed on to customers. Susan says, and
:23:38. > :23:48.Mike correct to think that Anglian Water are pumping water to Essex
:23:48. > :23:54.when there is a hosepipe pounds -- hosepipe ban? We actually reporter
:23:54. > :24:01.took Essex, and we take water from Essex as well, and we are looking
:24:01. > :24:09.to increase that around our periphery. A number of people ask
:24:09. > :24:15.the same question it. They are not on a meter, so they want to know if
:24:16. > :24:21.they get a reduction on their bill? I'm afraid not! Why our business is
:24:21. > :24:25.being able to use water when residential uses are not? I think
:24:25. > :24:31.we are very conscious that we do not want to impact on commercial
:24:31. > :24:41.livelihoods, so we have taken a pragmatic view. That is going to
:24:41. > :24:43.
:24:43. > :24:49.save between six and 7% of water. One last want. I have not heard
:24:49. > :24:59.anything from Anglia Water directly. We have done a massive amount of
:24:59. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:11.media coverage. We have put a few broad drops through. -- door drops.
:25:11. > :25:15.We have had some welcome rain across the region. It has been down
:25:15. > :25:21.to this huge area of low pressure but has sat across most of the
:25:21. > :25:26.country. Heavy rain, but not for everyone by any means. If we look
:25:26. > :25:32.at the radar Trott from earlier, the heavy rain tended to be in the
:25:32. > :25:37.north of the region. If we look at the rainfall totals, you can see
:25:37. > :25:41.what a contrast it was. Norfolk and Cambridgeshire getting over an inch
:25:41. > :25:45.of rain, but part of Buckinghamshire got just three or
:25:45. > :25:50.four mm. There are still some patchy rain out there, and it would
:25:50. > :25:56.take little what clear, but it will be more patchy as the day goes on.
:25:56. > :25:59.Were we -- we will be left with some cooler air behind that area of
:25:59. > :26:04.low pressure as it clears away. We should stay frost-free tonight,
:26:04. > :26:09.with a low temperature of three Celsius. The winds will stay north-
:26:09. > :26:16.easterly. Tomorrow, a different sort of day, really. A fairly
:26:16. > :26:19.cloudy start, but the clouds will break-up, and slightly more
:26:19. > :26:26.promising to bitters for tomorrow. An expected high of nine Celsius.
:26:26. > :26:30.With a moderate north-easterly wind, it could still feel a quite chilly
:26:30. > :26:33.through the afternoon, with further spells of sunshine. Looking ahead
:26:33. > :26:40.to the Easter weekend, there is a week weather front around on Friday,
:26:40. > :26:50.and although it will stay dry, it may bring some patchy rain later in
:26:50. > :26:53.
:26:54. > :26:58.the weekend. We have some shower symbols on there. temperatures
:26:58. > :27:03.around normal for this time of year, and the only overnight low is
:27:03. > :27:10.Thursday, when we could get down to minus one, and we could get some
:27:11. > :27:20.frost. Elsewhere, frost free. Thank you very much. It is one of those
:27:20. > :27:26.strange coincidences the just a few hours of -- before a hosepipe ban,
:27:26. > :27:32.the heaviest rain we have had for weeks. But even if it rains heavily
:27:32. > :27:37.for the next few weeks. It won't get better before the autumn. You