Interesting typo FP.. At first glance I thought, "baned? surely you mean banned", but then I thought about "wolf's bane", and, "the bane of one's life" and decided that actually, a hosepipe ban is in fact a "bane" and therefore, your misspelling is quite appropriate in this instance!

thanks domicat. that might be the most polite way anyone has told me i've spelt something wrong !

it's all in the spin.