Dowsing works, John Humphrys has said, after he used it on his farm to find a broken pipe.

Speaking to Professor Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire, the Today Programme presenter said he "felt a force" when using the method, also known as water divining, to find a pipe which had been cut through by a plough.

The exchange followed the discovery earlier this week that engineers from most of the UK's major water companies use the method to find leaks or broken pipes.

10 of the 12 companies admitted on Twitter to using the method, which involves using rods which are meant to move when the user walks over underground water, after science blogger Sally Le Page began making enquiries.

Humphrys had previously hired a dowser to find a water source on his farm in west Wales, and was encouraged to try the method again when a ploughman suggested he use it find the broken pipe, which had stopped the water supply to his house.

He said: "‘I brought in a dowser for that little farm I bought in Wales. The well had run dry and it needed a bore hole.

‘I brought in a dowser and he found a wonderful supply. Now OK you could say that was a bit of luck and he knows the land and all that."