Power showers could be restricted and households forced to install water meters under plans to tackle water shortages in the future, experts have warned.

A recent report by the National Infrastructure Commission calculated that Britain would need to find an extra 4,000 million litres a day to cope with a drier climate and population growth by 2040.

And the NIC said that every household would have to save an extra 23 litres of water daily.

Speaking at a briefing in London about water resilience, Professor Jim Hall of Oxford University, said the government may need to introduce restrictions on appliances such as showers, washing machines and dishwashers to limit their water use.

Prof Hall, Director of the Environmental Change Institute, said: “In the way that one has energy efficiency a requirements, it would affect the sort of things that consumers are able to buy. So washing machines, dishwashers and showers.

“Compulsory water meters for a large part of the country is an option we should be considering, but regulators are reluctant and the Government is cautious about imposing them.

“In the current situation there are winners and losers. For example, people living in a large house with teenage children taking a lot of showers and using more than the average amount of water would end up paying more with a meter, but people using less than the average may end up paying less.”