Scientists are developing tiny “pipebots” to find cracks and weaknesses in water pipes, in an effort to save billions of litres of water in Europe each year.

On the continent, 26 per cent of the water supply is lost each year due to leaks in the sewer systems.

Tiny “pipebots” - featuring sensors and cameras - could soon be used to enter the network, locate faults and transmit information and locations to an engineer, who then can go and fix the issue.

Tests are currently being undertaken at the University of Sheffield.