Campaigners are calling for a national competition to design a public water fountain to make them as commonplace and iconic as British telephone and letter boxes.

In a bid to help rid the country of the scourge of plastic bottles, it is believed that water fountains could even form part of the nation’s cultural identity.

Ben Reynolds, the deputy chief executive of the charity Sustain, claims the country needs a bold new design for a drinking fountain to replace the crumbling Victorian fountains.

“I think a new wave of water fountains could be the crux of dealing with our plastic water bottle problem, as well as our addiction to sugary fizzy drinks,” he said.

“We should be looking to have water fountains in every single park and high street. Telephone boxes are on their way out, and letter boxes will soon follow.

“So, the public water fountain could unite people around a vision of what we want our country to be like in the years to come. A competition would also help raise public awareness about them.”

Ralph Baber, trustee of the Drinking Fountain Association which was set up in 1859 when there was very little free drinking water available in London at a time when cholera was also water borne, backed the call for a competition.