GROUNDWATER levels locally are above average in some places but the message from the Environment Agency is that there is no cause for concern.

In the latest edition of a newsletter charting the situation, the agency says at Vernham Dean levels are above average but 10m below those recorded this time last year.

At Upton levels are 2m above average and at Hurstbourne Tarrant, 70cm above average. In both villages, the levels are 1m below last year's levels.

A similar situation is being experienced in Hatherden were groundwater levels are currently 10m below last year's figure and in Appleshaw where the water is 4m less.

In Sutton Scotney, groundwater levels fell between February and March, contrary to what has happened in other areas where levels rose, and are currently at an average figure.

At King's Somborne the levels, slightly above average, are described as 'stable'.

The rise is normal for February to March, the agency points out, with a peak usually experienced in March before levels fall in the summer. Five hundred wells were surveyed in a biannual survey.