RAIN, rain and more rain - that's been most people's impression of East Lancashire's summer so far.

In the past month we have had 150 millilitres of the stuff and sadly plenty more is forecast for the next fortnight.

And yet those in charge of our water supplies at United Utilities choose this moment to put out a public appeal urging us to be careful in our water use.

Reservoir levels are at 76 per cent, we are told, because up to June we did not get much rain.

Other countries around the world where rainfall is a fraction of ours still have water coming out of the taps so where does all our rain disappear to?

We are not known as a country which uses far more water than others - indeed Australians, for example, would laugh at the notion that Britons wash more than they do!

Perhaps it's all down to our methods of storing the precious resource.

Or could it be something to do with the efficiency of our water supplier United Utilities - the same company that is today criticised for still being the region's biggest environmental offender in terms of fines received?

A year after they were highlighted as the national's worst environmental offender they are still being urged by the Environment Agency to "take their environmental responsibilities seriously."