EVERY allotment holder at Upton and Lytchett Minster Allotment Association will be able to have a water butt to help them save money.

The association has won a Sustainable Watermark Award and the £600 award from Wessex Water will help 100 allotment users save water after Mike Gale, development engineer, handed over the cheque.

It was the cost of the water bill at the allotments in Slough Lane, Upton that made Lynn Wright, ULMAA's chairman think about how the allotments could save money.

Saving water was also seen as an opportunity to install a more efficient system than the water tanks, from which allotment holders filled up their watering cans.

There are 100 allotments and that meant buying 100 water butts. By setting up a fund to buy them, ULMAA hopes to save both rainwater for its allotments and money on its water bills.

“All gardens need water to flourish and our British summers can be both persistently dry and overwhelmingly wet,” said Lynn. "However with this support from Wessex Water we have found the solution.

"Most of our allotments have sheds and the roofs can be used to collect water from. We are going to encourage tenants to save water by offering a discounted rate for water butts.

"Our Watermark Award will be the injection of cash needed to set up ULMAA’s fund to start buying water butts. Now we will be able to save rainwater for the dry periods and I hope to see a substantial saving on next year’s water bill."

The Watermark Award provides funds for environmental projects within the Wessex Water area. Now in its 22nd year, it has supported more than 900 environmental initiatives.

It is organised by The Conservation Foundation and all projects are judged by a panel chaired by its president, author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner and botanist David Bellamy.