The ancient art of water divining is being practised by an engineer with a utility company to find burst pipes.

Steve Robinson, 47, who works for United Utilities, generally uses radio waves to determine the location of a leak.

But occasionally he abandons his company's hi-tech equipment and resorts to the two old welding rods he keeps in the back of his van.

The rods are so accurate that colleagues often call upon him for help when they fail to locate concealed pipework.

Mr Robinson, 47, from Upton, the Wirral, Merseyside, was introduced to the art of water divining by a retired colleague.

He said: "I must confess I've absolutely no idea how the process works or even what it's called - but it certainly gets results.

"I just hold on to the rods and let them go where they want. When I hit water, they cross over.

"It's nearly always accurate. Some of my colleagues were a bit skeptical at first, but they've learnt to trust it over the years.

"I've tried using the technique to find electricity lines, sewers and gas pipes, but it just doesn't work. As long as the pipe's got water running through it, I can find it for you."

He added: "I'm always happy to let colleagues have a go. Some can do it and some can't. It's one of those things that can't be taught."

Divining, sometimes referred to as dowsing or water witching, has been practiced for thousands of years.

Traditionally the most common divining rod was a Y-shaped tree branch. One rod was held in each hand, with the short section of the L held upright and the longer section pointing forward.

United Utilities, which has more than seven million customers in North West and maintains nearly 25,000 miles of pipes, was anxious to point out that divining rods are not standard issue for its engineers.

A spokesman said: "We use hi-tech leak detection equipment these days. However, we can't deny that Steve has achieved some uncannily accurate results using his own methods. Perhaps there is something in it after all."

In the Middle Ages dowsing was associated with sorcery. However, a scientific study carried out in Germany during the late 1980s concluded that some dowsers achieved "an extraordinarily high" success rate which could not be explained by pure chance.