Castenaso, a small town of around 15,000 people near Bologna, has cracked down on double-washing to save water as the region suffers a drought emergency, The Times reports.

The new rules have sparked complaints from hairdressers and barbers who say double-washing is needed with certain products or for particularly dirty hair.

Those who fail to abide by the rules can now face fines from €25 to €500.

Mayor Carlo Gubellini said: “We have about 10 hairdressers with hundreds of clients a day. That means there are thousands of litres that we can save every day. These savings replicated on a large scale could have enormous benefits.”