PEOPLE should move to cities in Scotland and the north of England where water supplies are more plentiful than the south, a government minister said yesterday.

Environment Minister Lord Rooker suggested population movements are a better way of easing the water crisis in London and the south-east of England.

He said it was "immoral" to suggest moving large amounts of water to the south of the UK to ease restrictions in the drought stricken south-east.

Lord Rooker said he thought the water resources and population in the UK are "spread very unevenly" and told the House of Lords: "There is something immoral about taking a resource from other areas of the country to the southeast.

"Rather than build a water grid, it would be much better to move the population and centres of government and reconfigure the country more fairly to where there are resources."

However, Lord Rooker criticised current metering levels as "pathetic" and urged water companies to use their powers to force homebuyers to have meters installed.

He stressed at the current rate it would take more than 20 years for two-thirds of households to be metered.

Meanwhile, UK water companies are urged today to reuse more effluent as drinking water as a solution to the water shortage.

The call for action comes from the Institution of Civil Engineers.

John Lawson, ICE's Water Board chairman, said: "Parts of the UK are experiencing longterm water shortages, so we need a range of solutions to keep the water running.

"Effluent water re-use is still a relatively untapped way of providing drinking water to meet growing long-term needs."

Turning effluent into drinking water involves processes which sieve and chemically clean the liquid.