TWO new public water fountains are set to be placed in the city centre as part of a pilot project to offer free water and cut plastic use.

Worcester City Council wants to offer easily obtainable fresh water as a way of promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing the dependency on single-use plastics.

The water fountains are expected to be placed near the corner of Pump Street and High Street and also in Broad Street, after Worcester City Council's environment committee unanimously approved the plans on Tuesday (July 23).

The council has put forward £15,000 to buy, install and maintain the two fountains for the pilot project but the budget is tight and does not account for repairs.

Andrew Round, the council's director of place, warned buying two water fountains would not leave "much resilience" with funds if anything did go wrong.

The council said it was "surprised" to find city water suppliers Severn Trent are against public water fountains largely due to misuse, vandalism and the quality of water.

Nevertheless, Severn Trent would charge the council up to £2,000 to install a connector to its water supply to allow the fountains to work. The council would then have to pay a plumber to connect the fountains to the connector.

Despite the lack of support, the council said it could "easily" install one water fountain within budget and two "at a push" if required.

Councillor Joy Squires, chairman of the council's environment committee, said it was important the council trialled two water fountains if it wanted to really see how they worked.

Cllr Andy Stafford, vice chairman of the environment committee, said: "I really think we should be planning for success rather than keeping the budget half in reserve.

"There is obviously an annual cost to operating these but I think it would be a really good sponsorship opportunity.

"I think local and national companies might want to have their name associated with providing the good citizens of Worcester with free water."

More than 50 city businesses already offer free water refills.