Youngsters at Dane Royd Primary School joined others to help Yorkshire Water and secretary of state for children, schools and families, Ed Balls MP, to look at water conservation, climate change and health.

Houses with reservoirs on the roof and a bottle that tells you when you need to drink to stay healthy were just two of ideas in a book called Little People, Big Ideas.

The book was given to Mr Balls at a treatment plant in Headingley on Friday, where life-size models of the quirky ideas had been re-created. The year 6 youngsters had been working on the project for a year.

Pupil Erica Brown, 10, said: "If we don't have enough water we might get more deserts in city centres or instead of parks near people's houses."

Mr Balls said: "The children and young people had some really interesting ideas about how the water industry should change in the next 25 years."

Yorkshire Water director Richard Flint was thrilled with the results.

He said: "The children who have taken part are our customers of the future and getting their views as well as the views of adults is important to us.

"Our research shows children in Yorkshire have a high level of understanding of the water industry and very strong views and creative ideas to share."

Click here to watch a video of the childrens ideas.