Council taxpayers in Birmingham could be stung with a £100,000 bill as thousands of gallons of water has been leaking from the city's most famous water feature.

The 'Floozie in the Jacuzzi' in Victoria Square was losing 60 cubic metres of water every day as far back as 2002, before emergency repairs were carried out last year.

The flow of leakage has now been reduced to 15 cubic metres a day, which trickles through porous sandstone below Victoria Square.

The 'Floozie' was erected in 1992 at a cost of £3.5 million. However, there were no maintenance costs included in its budget, the city's leisure chief said yesterday.

Coun John Alden (Con Harborne), cabinet member for leisure, culture and sport, also said the council could be hit with a back-dated water rates bill of £100,000, an estimate based on how much water has been lost because of the leak.

A spokesman from Severn Trent Water said the council "would be liable to fix the leak and pay the bill".