Water customers in Oxfordshire face tougher restrictions on using hosepipes when supplies next run low, the Government has announced.

During the county's last hosepipe ban, between April 2006 and January this year, thousands of residents were prevented from using hosepipes to water their gardens and wash cars but were allowed to use them for other purposes.

Thames Water, Oxfordshire's supplier, admitted "discrepancies" in the current rules undermined the goodwill of customers who abided by the ban.

Yesterday, ministers unveiled new "discretionary use" powers which would enable water firms to extend hosepipe bans to washing privately-owned boats, cleaning the outside of buildings and filling domestic ponds.

Filling private swimming pools and using hosepipes to clean patios could also be prohibited in times of drought, as part of an overhaul of the 62-year-old hosepipe ban law.

The move follows a Government consultation which was launched in March. It is hoped the new rules will be in force by next summer.

Environment minister Phil Woolas said 13 million people were affected by hosepipe bans during 2006.

He said: "We saw an extreme drought in the South East then, and outdated legislation meant gardeners couldn't water their plants with a hosepipe but their neighbours could power-wash their patios or fill swimming pools.

"That situation was clearly inconsistent and illogical," he said.

Mr Woolas warned that climate change could make droughts more frequent in the future.

Richard Aylard, Thames Water's director of external affairs and sustainability, welcomed the rule changes.

He said: "It was obvious during last year's drought that the 1940s legislation covering hosepipe bans needed to be updated.

"We had to apply the existing rules. But our customers were justifiably exasperated that things like jet washing of patios, and even the filling of private swimming pools, were still allowed at a time when they couldn't use hosepipes in their gardens, or for car washing.

"The obvious discrepancies in the current rules undermine the goodwill and restraint we have to rely on in times of severe drought.

"So it is important that when we need to impose restrictions again we can do so on a fairer and more sensible basis. We look forward to the new legislation coming into force."

A Thames Water spokesman added that the firm was not anticipating any further restrictions on water use in the "foreseeable future", thanks to the wet winter and this year's wet summer.