As part of a larger plan to link water supplies from Lincolnshire to Essex, the proposed route of the  of the giant 500-km pipeline has been revealed.  Anglian Water, the utility provider, has announced the first phase of the project - a pipeline heading from Waddington, near Lincoln, to Ancaster, between Sleaford and Grantham.  Water should begin to flow in the spring of 2021.

Anglia says the pipeline will address the exigencies of long term water supply and the balance for demand in the different regions it covers.

Strategic Pipeline Alliance director, James Crompton, said the project will be one of the largest of its kind in decades. "This scheme marks the first stage of one of the largest strategic infrastructure programmes the UK has seen since the major gas pipeline installations in Wales during the 1990s. Ours is the driest region in the UK, and without this programme of work, alongside continuing to drive down leakage as well as installing 760,000 upgraded water meters to help our customers better understand their water usage, we'd be facing a water shortfall of millions of litres a day."

Peter Simpson, Anglian Water chief executive, added "starting this programme is a significant part of our planned investment in the region over the next five years, which will begin to tackle those challenges and secure customer supplies well into the future."