DRINKING fountains may be installed across the city in a bid to cut plastic waste.

A petition of more than 2,500 signatures was presented to Brighton and Hove City Council by green activists.

They are keen to create opportunities for residents and tourists to refill plastic water bottles rather than continually buying more, many of which are not recycled.

In a submission to the council, the group wrote: “In this way we can plan a future where no water is sold in bottles in Brighton and people carry a bottle knowing there are multiple water refill points throughout the city.

“The fountains could be made into more elaborate and ornamental structures through crowd funding which would add to the charm of the town and contribute to reduced litter in the streets, beaches and countryside.”

Lead petitioner Charles Ross told the meeting of full council at Brighton Town Hall on Thursday evening the UK uses 35 million plastic bottles a day, half of which are not recycled.

He said plastic finds its way into the oceans where it enters the food chain and that plastic is found in a third of all UK-caught fish. Taken as a percentage of the UK population, he said, Brighton could be estimated to get through 100 million plastic bottles a year.

He said: “For a town which prides itself on being green and progressive, the fact that so little has been done to tackle this tide of plastic is hard to understand.”

He said San Francisco had taken steps to ban the sale of plastic bottles and Brighton could follow suit.

Council leader Warren Morgan (Lab) said officers had researched the possible costs of such a scheme.

Initial estimates are the drinking fountains would cost about £2,000 each to install and costs for maintenance and repairs would be in the region of £6,000.

Councillor Lee Wares (Con) said the proposal was not without the risk of Legionella disease.

He said he was not an expert on it, adding: “I don’t want to become an unwitting expert arising from the city having public drinking water and taps.

“If we’re going to go down this route we should do so with our eyes wide open.”

Councillor Phelim MacCafferty (Green) said: “One per cent of our city’s population have signed this petition.

“For us to note it with no action falls well short of the intention.”

His group proposed the use of the community and restructure levy to help fund the proposal.

The council voted that rather than refer the petition for consideration by the environment committee, it should go to the more powerful policy resources and growth committee, for consideration on November 30.