Cafes, sandwich shops and fast-food outlets should be forced to offer free drinking water on request to help reduce the number of plastic bottles, the head of an influential Commons committee has suggested.

Mary Creagh, the leader of the Environment Audit select committee, accused the Government of "dragging its" feet on the plastic bottle crisis and said it should be a legal requirement for all food and drink retailers to provide tapwater.

Ms Creagh said: “The Government should go further and make it a legal requirement for all premises that serve food or drink to provide drinking water on request.

“The UK has safe, clean tap water and failing to provide it leads to unnecessary use of plastic water bottles which clog up our river and seas.”