DAYS of heavy rain have failed to make enough of an impression on Lake District reservoir levels to lift the hosepipe ban.

United Utilities says that the restriction could still remain in place for a number of weeks despite July’s rainfall being three times higher than usual.

A month’s worth of rain has fallen on Shap Fell since last Thursday night, according to MET Office forecaster Helen Chivers.

“The rain might become a bit more continuous on Thursday but it will be a lot lighter by then,” she said.

“As we go into the weekend it looks as though we’re going to turn dry.

"We’re not going to have complete wall-to-wall sunshine but it will certainly be drier and brighter and temperatures could be in the low 20s.”

This week, the Environment Agency placed Stonethwaite Beck, and the Rivers Kent, Brathay, Rothay, Bela and Winster on Flood Watch, meaning that low-lying land and roads were at risk of flooding.

Despite the downpours, United Utilities spokeswoman Polly Rourke said the hosepipe ban would stay in place.

She said the extra water now in Haweswater and Thirlmere would be used to supplement a lack of rainfall around the Pennines.

“All our areas are linked through a large integrated pipe system, which means we can share water out,” she said.

“Even though the levels of the reservoirs have gone up, they still won’t be where we need them to be.

"So although we’ve had a lot of rain in Cumbria, it’s a case of we are all in it together.

“We’ve had a lot of rain in the last couple of weeks and it’s good to see some of it back.

"But we’ve still had far less than we would expect for this time of year.

Ms Rourke added that Haweswater and Thirlmere reservoirs were at 63.6 per cent and 50 per cent full respectively – which falls below the average for this time of year, which is 70 per cent.

Longdendale and Rivington in Lancashire remain very low, with levels at 50 per cent.

It is for this reason that United Utilities has not withdrawn its drought permit application to take water out of Windermere.

The water giant has also sent out 70 ‘reminder letters’ to customers in the North West who have continued to use hosepipes despite the ban.

People who continually flout the ban could face fines of up to £1,000.