Water companies are wasting five times more water through leaky pipes than even a nationwide hosepipe ban could save, environmental campaigners say.

Research by Greenpeace UK found that 2.87bn litres of water a day seep from leaky pipes in England and Wales. That is enough to fill 1,150 Olympic-sized swimming pools and amounts to a fifth of all water pumped through the network.

By comparison, according to an analysis of figures obtained from Ofwat, the water industry regulator, a network-wide hosepipe ban would save 4% of water, which is about 577m litres a day.

Greenpeace’s analysis comes as water companies place millions of people in south and south-east England under “temporary use bans”. The orders make using a hosepipe a criminal offence with a potential penalty of £1,000.