Around 20 million Britons were banned on Thursday from using garden hoses, after one of the driest two-year periods on record.

Seven water companies in southern and eastern England, covering around 20 million people, have imposed restrictions banning people from using hoses for gardening or cleaning.

1,000 pounds ($1,600, 1,200 euro) fine as suppliers battle to top up depleting reservoirs.

"It's impossible to say how long the hosepipe ban may last," Paul Kent, asset strategy manager for Southern Water, told AFP from the side of the half-full Bewl Reservoir in Kent, southeast England.

"It's unlikely we will be lifting the ban this summer," he added, the concrete walls of the vast reservoir clearly visible behind him.

"The level is at about 50 percent -- normally at this time of the year we expect it to be at 90 percent."

The fountains in Trafalgar Square, one of London's busiest tourist spots, are set to dry up in less than a week as the hosepipe ban also prevents the replenishing of ponds and fountains.

The square, which houses Nelson's Column and the National Gallery, is expected to be a key venue for the Olympic Games this summer as well as diamond jubilee celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne.

"The fountains are currently being used for one hour a day at a low plume using an existing store of water that is expected to last for about a week," said a spokesman for the Greater London Authority.

"We are working with Thames Water on finding a sustainable supply of water that will allow the Trafalgar Square fountains to be used throughout a summer of celebrations," he added.

England and Wales had just 38 percent of the long-term average rainfall in March and, despite recent rain, the southeast of England and Yorkshire in the north are officially in a state of drought.

Dan Burdett, a farmer in West Sussex in southeast England, told AFP the dry weather had forced him to change some of his crops and threatened his livestock's food supply.

"If it continues to be this dry then the grass will stop growing at some point during the summer we will struggle to feed the cows," he said, standing in the middle of a field of chicory planted because of its deep roots.