Water customers in Sussex will not be forced to have meters installed in their homes in the near future, despite new powers available to providers.

Companies in the region today said they have no immediate plans to take advantage of a landmark Government ruling that could enable them to put meters in hundreds of thousands of households.

Folkestone and Dover Water has been granted "water scarcity" status, allowing it to pursue an attempt to get 90 per cent of customers using meters by 2016.

Afterwards, Elliot Morley, the Environment Minister, said other firms would be able to apply to follow suit. Mr Morley also announced plans to make water-saving devices compulsory in new homes.

Properties with a meter use ten per cent less water than those without. For one third of bill payers, having a meter would push up water costs. However, the device would save smaller households money.

All three firms providing Sussex with water - Southern Water, South East Water and Sutton and East Surrey Water - said they did not intend to go for compulsory metering, even though they have already got hosepipe bans in place in anticipation of a prolonged drought this year.

Meters are automatically fitted In all properties when there is a change of ownership. Existing customers have the option to switch to a meter.

A spokeswoman for Southern Water, Sussex's biggest water firm, said it was satisfied with this arrangement. Of the company's two million customers, 254,000 or about ten per cent have meters compared to a national average of 28 per cent.

The spokeswoman said: "We have been watching with interest everything that has been going on.

"Compulsory metering is not something we are considering doing ourselves at the moment. It doesn't need to happen. We are supplying change of occupancy metering. That is going well. We are encouraging customers to get meters."

Anyone signing up for a meter can have a one-year trial, then switch back if they want.

South East Water welcomed the Government's decision, saying metering was the fairest method of charging as customers only paid for what they used and it helped them reduce consumption.

But it said the company would not yet be seeking its own ruling.

Margaret Devlin, managing director, said: "For South East Water it would take a substantial programme of works over a period of years to install meters in all unmetered properties.

"Nor is metering alone the solution to meeting future demand. It must remain part of a twin-track approach which also allows us to develop new resources, such as our proposed Clay Hill Reservoir, as well as continuing with our effective demand management strategies.

"Clearly metering does have a role to play in our overall water resources plan and so we will be following Folkestone and Dover Water Services' work very closely in terms of evaluating whether this is an option which South East Water should also follow."