THAMES Water is blaming the possibility of a hosepipe ban on dry weather and not on the company's failure to meet water leakage targets.

The company, which provides much of the water in south Bucks, has fallen short of its targets for three years running.

Figures released this week by the water watchdog, OFWAT, show that Thames Water's pipe network leaked 915 million litres of water a day over the last financial year.

Thames Water bosses have laid the blame for the amount of leaks on the age of the pipes in London.

The company claim that in the rest of the South East the firm's record stands up against the competition.

A Thames Water spokesman said. "It's in London that we have missed our targets. We have achieved our targets for outside London.

"Our leakages outside London are comparable with the rest of the water industry."

OFWAT had set Thames Water a maximum leakage target of 905 million litres.

Thames Water say it has no firm plans for a hosepipe ban, but say that if current demand continues along with the dry weather then this will be the only solution to the current shortage.

The last ban was introduced 15 years ago, but due to the driest winter since 1976 current reservoir levels are running low.

The spokesman told Midweek that if the company introduce a ban, leakages will only be a minor factor in the equation.

He said: "We still don't know if there will be a ban. A lot depends on the rain fall throughout the summer."

The company defended its record on leakages saying that it has improved on last year's leakage figure of 946 million litres a day to the current 915m level.