RESIDENTS in Sidmouth and East Devon are set to be among the few in the country not to have water restrictions imposed this year.

South West Water (SWW) bosses say they are ‘confident’ that 2012 will be the 16th successive summer without constraints.

A drought is feared in parts of the South West including Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Bristol.

Large parts of the South and South East of England are officially in drought following two of the driest winters on record.

However, SWW’s service area - which includes Devon, Cornwall and small parts of Dorset and Somerset - is not included.

A SWW spokesman said: “The service area supplied by South West Water remains in the same good position, and we are confident that this will be our sixteenth successive summer without water restrictions.”