Hosepipe bans remain in force across Sussex.

Water firms said they had no plans to lift restrictions, despite rainfall of up to 20mm an hour yesterday.

Southern Water and South East Water, which together serve most homes in Sussex, said the aquifer underneath the ground had not yet been sufficiently recharged to call off the drought. They promised to re-assess the situation later in the autumn.

Southern Water said its underground sources, which supply 70 per cent of tap water in the region, remain seriously depleted. Reservoir levels, which provide the other 30 per cent, are still below average for this time of year.

Bewl Water is 61 per cent full and Darwell, near Hastings, the largest reservoir in the South-East, is at 47 per cent.

Arlington is 51 per cent full and Ardingly 67 per cent.

Southern Water said the South-East was still suffering the driest period since the Thirties and the worst drought since 1976 following two consecutive dry winters.

Meyrick Gough, water planning and strategy manager, said: "We are still in the grip of the drought and need to have above-average rainfall throughout the winter to bring ground water supplies up to normal levels.

"By January 2007 we want our reservoirs to be largely recharged. In January this year, Bewl was at its lowest ever level, just 35 per cent full."

He said customers had responded well to restrictions, particularly during the record hot months of June and July. An average of 22 million litres of water was saved a day, more than enough to meet the needs of a city the size of Canterbury.

The firm almost doubled the size of its leak-detection scheme and fast-tracked more than 50 schemes costing £20 million to bring more water into supply.

South East Water spokeswoman Jane Gould said it too had seen a reduction in use during the summer. She said reservoir levels were good for this time of year.

She said: "The more rain we get over the autumn period, the better. We need to be certain we are starting to see some significant recharging before we lift the hosepipe ban.

"Aquifers are still below average because of two dry winters and a very hot summer. Some are showing slight signs of recovery. The ground needs to soften up for the water to get through."