Farmers were thankful for rain at the weekend as they were very close to losing their licence to take water from other sources due to drought.

Local farmers say the drought is the “most severe witnessed in a generation”.

Last week, SEPA was working with Girvan Early Growers (GEG), a co-operative of local farmers, on alternative sources of water to irrigate their crops.

Continuous dry weather meant that it was looking likely that a temporary suspension of their SEPA abstraction licence would be required due to the severity of the water scarcity.

However, rainfall on Friday in the area meant SEPA did not have to suspend the licence.

GEG chairman Andrew Young said: “Over the last 30 years we have invested as heavily in irrigation equipment as we could to try and make best use of the water available for our high value crops.

“Through good dialogue with our local SEPA representative, we’ve managed to sort out water availability and kept customers supplied with the quality required. However, this year, despite investment and support to avoid this situation, we’re struggling as the drought is the most severe we’ve witnessed in a generation.”