Neighbours of an allotment have complained gardeners are abusing privileges exempting them from the hosepipe ban.

Joy Chittenden, 60, of Old Shoreham Road, Hove, said she has seen allotment owners attach hosepipes to the taps and walk away, leaving them running for up to five hours.

She waters her garden, which backs on to the allotments, using rain water she has collected in barrels.

The allotments, however, are not affected by Southern Water's hosepipe ban because they are not private gardens.

The ban, which came into force north of the Downs on June 10, was extended to cover parts of Brighton and Hove on Monday.

Miss Chittenden said: "I have no objection to the ban but I do object to allotment holders being allowed as much water as they want. I don't see why they are exempt while we are trying to save water."

She said she and her mother Veta, 89, also of Old Shoreham Road, Hove, do not use a dishwasher and turn off taps when they don't need to use water.

Miss Chittenden added: "Surely if people are fit and young enough to have an allotment they are fit enough to dip buckets in the barrels of water that are provided.

"I used to live near the Weir Wood reservoir and I have never seen the water level so low. I don't see why it has taken this long to impose a ban in the first place."

Catherine Donnelly, 45, of Havelock Road, Brighton, has an allotment at Patcham. She said: "There are people spraying water everywhere with not a thought for the ban.

"They stand there with it on for more than an hour when it's still hot and most of the water evaporates before it even touches the soil.

"There are some responsible allotment holders but it would help if the council put up notices telling people to be careful about the amount of water they use."

A Southern Water spokeswoman said the only way to curb hosepipe usage in allotments would be a total ban on all non-essential use of water.

She said: "This is not something we are planning to do because it would be quite a big step to take and it would affect all homes. We think we can manage without doing that."

"The ban only covers hosepipes in private homes and gardens because of the way the legislation is written but we would ask allotment holders to be careful and try not to waste water.

"We have had a good response from customers so far and hope people will pull together to take the ban outside the home."