It's been the driest spring for 101 years and Sutton and East Surrey Water is appealing to customers to use water with care.

The Met Office has confirmed that we’ve just had the driest spring since records began in 1901.

In the Sutton and East Surrey region there was 16mm of rain in May and 13mm in March - in the middle was poor old April with a pitiful 1.5mm.

That's just 30.5mm for those three months and less than 20% of the long term average of 161mm.

Demand for water is currently not too high, but with a warm summer on the way and the possibility of a drier winter, it makes sense to save water where possible.

Mike Hegarty, Sutton and East Surrey Water’s operations director said: "We do not expect to have to introduce any restrictions on water use this summer, but we do appeal to our customers to please use water with care. It is a finite resource."

Mr Hegarty suggests keeping garden watering to a minimum and to avoid using sprinklers, which can use as much water as a family of four would use in a day.

"Lawns don’t need watering and most plants are very resilient," he points out.

You can always water your garden with the household’s greywater (Yes! Grey! Because it’s the dirty water after we’ve washed ourselves!)

If that sounds a little complicated, all you need is a Ripple water bucket to collect excess shower water, and a pair of willing hands to get it to the garden.

I can see a new fun family game developing - a water saving relay not a million miles away from Total Wipeout! But without Richard Hammond. Result!

[Image: Little Moe by Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue]