Garden centre has prepared for the dry summer by building its own reservoir.

Staff at Europlants Ltd at Framfield Nurseries, Framfield, East Sussex, built the feature in February in case of serious water shortages later this year.

Rainfall since then has filled the 16ft square pool, which is more than 8ft deep.

Peacehaven, Seaford, Hailsham and Heathfield councils will be supplied with water to look after floral arrangements.

It means residents will be able to enjoy hanging baskets this summer, although plants that do not need much water will mostly be used in the displays.

Henry Hadow, sales director of Europlants Ltd, said the firm decided to act after many councils considered not having hanging baskets this year.

He said: "In early spring we spoke to different councils who said they weren't going to have hanging baskets this year because they would not be able to water the plants.

"So we laid the foundations and built the lake, which we plan to keep.

"It means some surrounding towns have decided to display plants they may not have."

Peter Tipping, the company's managing director, came up with the idea for the reservoir, which holds about 22,000 litres and took four weeks to build.

The water will be transported to the surrounding towns in a 1,000-litre bowser.

Mr Hadow said: "All the water from our greenhouses runs back into the lake so it is recycled. We are also using drought-resistant plants such as geraniums, which do not need much water, and other Mediterranean plants."

But Mr Hadow said there is still a risk they could run out of water by the end of July if the summer is dry.

He added: "Peacehaven is one town which has decided to go ahead with hanging baskets and councillors have said the lake has allayed some fears during times of water shortage."

Steve Keogh, leisure and amenities manager for Peacehaven Town Council, welcomed the scheme.

He said: "We were thinking about getting water butts of our own to help out but once we found out Europlants had a water supply we felt a lot more comfortable having the hanging askets. It was certainly a selling oint.

"If they hadn't had the reservoir built we probably would have spent the money for the plants on something else."

Two successive and exceptionally dry winters means the south of England is experiencing its driest period since 1933.

This has left reservoirs, rivers and underground sources seriously below average for the time of year.

Hosepipe and sprinkler bans remain in force across the county and, despite recent rain, only four out of the last 16 months have had average rainfall.

In order to replenish underground supplies, rainfall figures need to be 25 per cent above average.