The hosepipe ban which split the borough when it began in April is expected to be lifted sooner than expected provided the weather does not take “an unexpectedly Saharan twist”.

Britain’s biggest water company, Thames Water, announced the good news on Thursday after the Environment Agency confirmed that exceptionally heavy rainfall in April and May had eased concerns about surface water and groundwater sources.

Essex and Suffolk Water, which supplies the south east of Redbridge, has no hosepipe ban in place.

Richard Aylard, sustainability director for Thames Water, said: “The record spring rainfall has eased the situation considerably. “The River Thames provides 70 per cent of the water we supply to our customers and levels are now where we would expect them to be, and our reservoirs are still full.

“In addition we have had excellent cooperation from our customers, both in observing the restrictions and in using water wisely, and we are currently beating our leakage target by more than 60 million litres a day.

Mr Aylard added: “Taking everything into account, we need a little longer to be sure that we will have enough water to get us through the summer and autumn without restrictions.”