A hosepipe ban can have serious consequences to businesses, so a ban is only imposed on them if it's absolutely necessary.

At the end of the day the water companies lose more water through leaks than is used by all the households combined, so they should really put their house in order before inconveniencing their customers...

'My Neighbour has a Blue Badge and is allowed to use a hosepipe.'

It's bloody amazin' what these blue badges can get you...

"it was face down, no pic,"

If it was face down the pic would be showing.

Believe it or not the perverse regulations require it to be displayed with the pic not showing!

The expiry date shows, and so does the serial number which gives a bit away. It contains the date of birth (can't remember how, and the car is in the garage, and I'm in bed!) and the last digit, M or F indicates gender.

I have no compunction or hesitation in immediately reporting blue badge abuse

I spent time in spain where water shortage is a problem all year round.Imagine my surprise to see a golf course covered with hosepipes spraying the greens.I was told they are supposed to use desalinated water but were actually using normal water as the desalinated water could damage the grass.I use a hosepipe to clean the windows(cant climb a ladder now)and although we get rather a lot of rainfall here in wet cumbria so hosepipe bans are rare,if I hear other parts of the UK are subject to a ban,I don't use mine.I'm even more determined to catch the bloke who comes round cleaning the wheelie bins and get him to give my upstairs windows a quick blast,as he charges less to clean the bins than a window-cleaner does for only the upstairs.