BRITAIN’S Got Talent star Shaheen Jafargholi is urging South Wales to save energy – and cash.

The singer, a runner-up in the hit ITV1 show, was in Cardiff yesterday at the launch of a water advice service.

The 12-year-old, who sensationally sang at Michael Jackson’s memorial service this summer, was at Western Leisure Centre, Ely, Cardiff, explaining how something as simple as spending a minute less in the shower could save money.

Shaheen, who will open this year’s Mobo Awards ceremony as part of the UK’s first tribute to Jacko since his sudden death on June 25, shared his experience of using energy-saving gadgets which could knock pounds off household bills.

The youngster was given a shower timer, a bucket to capture and reuse excess shower water and a shower head with single spray.

He told pupils from nearby Glyn Derw High School: “When I was having a shower, I put the plug in the bath and saw how much water I used. It was quite a bath-full. It made me realise how much water we waste.

“I’ve used the water timer. At first I pressed all the buttons trying to see how it worked and I managed to get 69 minutes. So I had to wait 69 minutes before I had a shower. Now I know how to work it, it was quite fun.

“It’s actually simple and something people can do in everyday, normal life to save money.

“All you need is to get in, wet your hair and you are done.”

The event was organised by the Energy Saving Trust, under a three-year European grant, which has a centre in Caspian Point, Cardiff Bay.

The excited Glyn Derw students also queued up to have Swansea schoolboy Shaheen autograph their Waterwise T-shirts, which carry the message about how much people waste on heating their water, and ask him questions about his televised performance at the Jackson memorial service at Los Angeles’ the Staples Center in front of a global audience of 2.5 billion.

Helen Northmore, head of Energy Saving Trust Wales, the body established to help people fight climate change, said households in Cardiff could save a total of around £780,000 a year if everyone reduced their shower time by one minute, according to its research.

She said: “It’s very much about how people can save money on their energy bills by saving water. Most people don’t make that connection.

“People have saved hundreds of pounds off their energy bills by calling our advice line. Water is an extremely important subject that for some reason has been overlooked for its energy-saving qualities in the past. Realistically this is one of the easiest and most effective ways people can help the environment.

“We’ve come to a leisure centre location today because there’s lots of heated water in this building and we don’t think about it. The whole family use hot water, not just the people who pay the bills, so it’s the whole family that needs to think about it.”

Residents who call the freephone number on 0800 512012, which is open from 9am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, can obtain tips on how to save money by reducing their energy use. The Energy Saving Trust has said that heating water in the home makes up to 30% of the average gas bill in the UK, at around £200 a year.

Studies also suggest reducing heated water use by just 5% would be the equivalent of taking 600,000 cars off the road.

The new water advice service is launched by the Energy-Saving Trust and Waterwise and funded by the EU Life+, the EU’s financial arm supporting environmental and nature conservation projects. It is the first of its kind in any EU member state and hopes to raise awareness and give advice to the residents of Cardiff about the relationship between heating water in the home and energy consumption.