Young people are being urged to take an active role in the design and recreational use of the proposed £1bn reservoir between Abingdon and Wantage.

They are being invited to a weekend of workshops when round two of the public consultation exercise gets under way in January.

People living near the proposed site will be given the opportunity to have their ideas incorporated into the final design and construction proposals before the project is submitted for approval in 2008.

Thames Water is hoping the project will capture the imagine of young people in particular.

Aspects of the project - predicted to be one of the country's biggest civil engineering projects - up for discussion will include recreational facilities and nature and conservation issues.

Workshops coordinator Sarah Harris, who can be contacted on 0118 373 8929, said: "The workshops will explore a wide range of options and solutions relating to the design.

"Their purpose is to give people the chance to contribute at a stage where it is possible to influence the overall design of the project.

"We are very keen to get younger people on board. The aim of the reservoir is to guarantee water supplies for the future so it is especially relevant to them."

Each workshop will be held at locations near the proposed reservoir site and will last for two days. The closing date for applications is November 9.

Earlier this month Thames Water - recently sold by the German company RWE to an Australian company MacQuarie Bank for £4.8bn - completed a series of public exhibitions in towns and villages likely to be most affected.

More than 2,200 people attended 16 meetings in Abingdon, Wantage, Steventon and East Hanney.

The new reservoir, in a four square mile area between Steventon, Drayton, East Hanney and Marcham is being proposed to help cope with the projected increase in demand for water in London, Swindon and Oxford- shire.

It will hold up to 150 million cubic metres of water which is half the capacity of Lake Windermere. If approved the reservoir is expected to be constructed and in use by 2020.