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Work has started on a £400m pipeline to pump water from northern England to drier areas in the south and east of the country.

The first stage of the pipeline will run through Lincolnshire, with plans to eventually build a 310-mile (500km) network across the Anglian Water area.

The firm's CEO Peter Simpson said the pipeline scheme was "absolutely vital".

He said without the network, the east of England would face a "water deficit" of 30 million litres a day by 2025.

"This region is already water scarce, we're already struggling for water," Mr Simpson said.

"What we've got to do is to make the best use of water by redistributing - which is this pipeline from the North down to the South East - and interconnecting."

He said the south east of England was "the driest part of the country", with a third less rainfall than anywhere else in the UK, and was also one of the fastest growing areas, with over 175,000 new homes to be built there in the next five years.

Mr Simpson added the company was also hoping to "drive down demand for water" by fixing leaks and installing smart water meters.

Anglian Water supplies drinking water to 4.3 million customers across the east of England and collects and treats used water from over six million people.

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