This summer's prolonged heatwave has left crops stressed and desperate for water - either from rainfall or irrigation supplies drawn from reservoirs, boreholes and rivers.

But with demand for irrigation water rising, and levels in winter storage reservoirs falling rapidly, the Environment Agency has tightened restrictions on abstraction licences in areas of Norfolk Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire where river flows have fallen below minimum thresholds.

The "hands off flow" orders were enforced on July 11, affecting dozens of growers around the South Level in the Ely Ouse catchment, which includes much of Breckland.

Among them are Tim Young, of Grange Farm in Hockwold, near Thetford, who has lost access to his irrigation water for the second year running. Last year, in similar conditions, his onion yields dropped by 40pc.

"This has happened now for the second year in a row - I don't remember it happening in my lifetime before that, so there is a definite change in weather patterns that we're experiencing," he said.

"We've experienced the three driest years since my grandfather started recording in 1955. So it's certainly a challenge for us.

"We're absolutely looking to invest in irrigation reservoirs where we can take during excess water flows in the winter and store that water.

"But for my business........

© Eastern Daily Press