My neighbour uses a hosepipe in his watering can, does this breach the ban?

The area where I live is under a hosepipe ban but the rules state that you can still water the garden with a watering can. My neighbour appears to be trying to get around the ban by walking around his garden in the evening with a hosepipe inside his watering can.He is doing this to water the plants and says this is allowed as all he is doing is filling up the watering can on the move, rather than walking backwards and forwards to the tap. I said that I think this isn't allowed but he claims it's a loophole and it is permitted. Is he right? Naughty or not? A This is Money reader's neighbour is using a hosepipe to fill a watering canJane Denton, of This is Money, replies: Millions of households have been lumbered with hosepipe bans after multiple heatwaves, high demand for water and a lack of rainfall in many areas. On Thursday, Thames Water started a hosepipe ban affecting 10.1million customers. The water giant's ban applies to all customers that the firm supplies with drinking water, though there are exemptions. Other water firms including Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Southern Water and South West Water imposed hosepipe bans on households earlier this month. But some water providers such as Essex & Suffolk Water, Severn Trent Water and Scottish Water have not yet announced any hosepipe bans. Hosepipe ban rules and loopholesThe legal rules about hosepipe bans are in section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991, updated in 2010.Only certain uses of water can be prohibited during a hosepipe ban. Among others, this includes watering a garden using a hosepipe, cleaning a privately owned car using a hosepipe or filling up a swimming pool or paddling pool at home with a hosepipe. But many exemptions are available and are explained on each water company's website. The exemptions can differ depending on the water provider. People who are registered disabled, Blue Badge holders or on a water companies' Priority Services Register are generally exempt from hosepipe bans. The use of a hosepipe for food crops in allotments or residential gardens is permitted, if they cannot reasonably be watered with a watering can. Providing water to livestock or pets can also still be done using a hosepipe. Watering cans and buckets filled directly from the kitchen or garden tap remain legal to use. People can also still use a bucket or water from a water butt to water their plants. The use of irrigation systems remains permitted. Using grey water, which is water from baths, showers and washing up, is actively encouraged by water companies during hosepipe bans. You can also water newly laid turf with a hosepipe for up to 28 days after it has been laid. Those are the rules and the exemptions, but there are also lots of things that people judge to be grey areas or loopholes, so has your neighbour found one? Can your neighbour use a hosepipe in a watering can? I assume your neighbour is using standard long-length hosepipe in his watering can as he waters his garden plants. Unless your neighbour is exempt, perhaps because he has a Blue Badge or is on his water firm's priority user list, his use of the hosepipe is breaking the rules. He may have an unusual exemption available to him, but he won't get very far with it.Thames Water told me that your neighbour would be allowed to use a short piece of hose no longer than 30cm to fill up his watering can. From what you have said, your neighbour is not using a micro-hosepipe to fill up his watering can as he walks round his garden, so he is breaking the rules. From what you have said he also doesn't appear to simply be filling up and then using the watering can, but wandering round the garden with the hosepipe disguised in the can.Anyone found flouting a hosepipe ban can be fined £1,000. The odds of a fine being imposed and enforced are low. No water firm has imposed a fine to date. Thames Water said people do not need to contact them about neighbours using hosepipes. The company said people should not phone 999 to report someone using a hosepipe during the temporary ban either.If you think your neighbour is using his hosepipe improperly, have a polite word with him and urge him to use the watering can filled up from a tap instead. I asked a legal expert for a response to your question. Sunil Patel is a civil litigation director at Duncan LewisThe legal viewSunil Patel, civil litigation director at Duncan Lewis, said: This isn't a loophole, it is a rather brazen attempt to get around the ban. During a hosepipe ban, the rules generally prohibit using a hosepipe to water a private garden, regardless of whether the water is going directly onto the plants or first into a watering can.While most bans still allow people to use a watering can, the key distinction is how it is filled. If you're carrying a watering can to an outside tap, filling it, turning the tap off and then watering your plants, that will usually be permitted. However, walking around the garden with a hosepipe running continuously into the watering can is still likely to amount to using a hosepipe to water the garden.The exact wording can vary between water companies, so it's always worth checking the restrictions that apply in your area. Some companies include specific exemptions, but there is no general legal 'watering can loophole' that allows someone to keep a hosepipe running simply because the water passes through a can first.Anyone who ignores a hosepipe ban could face enforcement action, including a fine.In practice, water companies tend to focus on encouraging compliance, but it is sensible not to rely on creative interpretations of the rules. If in doubt, use a watering can filled at the tap or wait until the restrictions are lifted. This is Money podcast