Carried out during this year’s Hotelympia (5-8 March), the research found that 75% of those asked are “very concerned” about the possibility of plastic leeching into the water in terms of contamination, and that 94% would “rather be offered freshly purified water in establishment’s own reusable, glass bottles.”

It accompanies recent findings from journalist organisation, Orb Media, which showed that major brands of plastic bottled water (purchased from nine different countries) nearly all contain “tiny particles of plastic with an average of 10 plastic particles per litre - each larger than the width of a human hair.”

Sherri Mason, a professor of chemistry at the University of New York (who conducted the analysis) told BBC News last week: "We found plastic in bottle after bottle, and brand after brand.

"It's really showing that plastic has become a pervasive material in our society, and it’s now pervading water - all of these products that we consume at a very basic level."

Marketing manager Adam Lenton added: “Understanding the potential implications of this study remains an active area of science in terms of long-term effect on health.

“But already, we can see that consumers are increasingly concerned about the plastic issue – not just relating to waste but also waking up to the potential harmful aspects of digesting small amounts of plastic. 

“People that we talked to (at Hotelympia) were very clear that they would like the hospitality industry to lead on this issue, and would like to see establishments still using plastic bottled water change their methodology of how they present table water.

“Our survey showed that 63% of those asked felt that we should go even further here in the UK, and that the government should legislate to ban the use of single-use plastic bottles.

“This illustrates the strength of feeling on this issue, which has come to the forefront of media attention and environmentalists in the last 18 months or so.”