Young car owners pouring water down the drain

Car owners in drought-affected areas are ignoring the hosepipe ban to keep their treasured cars sparkling, according to new research by AA Personal Loans, the car buying arm of the UK's leading roadside service.

At a time when 13 million people are still affected by a hosepipe ban, the AA asked car owners in drought areas whether they are respecting the ban and washing their cars with a bucket and sponge.

Ban? What ban?

Overall, more than one in ten people (12 per cent) in ban-affected areas are ignoring the hosepipe ban and hosed their car on their drive.

Male drivers are more than twice as likely as women to have ignored the ban (18 percent versus 8 per cent).

Young people are the worst offenders. More than one in five (21 per cent) people aged 18 to 29 say they ignore the hosepipe ban to wash their car - and around a fifth do so weekly.

Perhaps most alarming, more than two in five people (44 percent) in the drought-affected South East claim they didn’t even know there is a hosepipe ban!

Lloyd East at AA Personal Loans commented: “We’re at a peak time for car buying – a time when people want their cars to look their best. That said, car owners need to take heed of the environment and not pour valuable water literally down the drain by washing their car with a hose. Using a bucket and sponge is the socially-responsible solution.”