Lost village reappears as drought continues

Low water levels at a reservoir in Derbyshire have revealed a former settlement that was deluged in the 1940s.

The village of Derwent made way for Ladybower Reservoir, which was built between 1935 and 1943.

Figures show the reservoir's water levels stand at just under 32% capacity following a sustained summer dry spell that led to a drought being declared in the East Midlands in August.

Severn Trent Water has urged people visiting the area to keep on the paths as the exposed reservoir bed is "extremely muddy and not safe to walk on".

Historic buildings, churches and limestone cottages in Derwent and Ashopton were lost when the Derwent Valley was flooded.

The plan, which was strongly opposed by locals, was to help serve the growing cities of Derby, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester with water.

Latest figures from the Environment Agency shows the majority of English regions are in drought conditions following a record hot summer and the driest April-to-September period in over a century.

Overall, roughly 82% of England remains in drought, 18 reservoir groups are less than half full, and temporary use restrictions remain active across large regions, requiring significant autumn and winter rainfall to replenish severely depleted groundwater and reservoir storage.

Doug Clarke, Severn Trent's water resources lead, said: "We've seen six months of below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures so reservoir levels will take time to recover, but overall, across our region we've more stored than this time last year.

"Reservoirs make up around a third of our water supplies, with the rest coming from rivers and groundwater, and our teams are continuing to work around the clock to treat more water and fix leaks at record levels.

"But we're also asking customers to continue using water wisely all year round, to help ensure there is always enough to go around."

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