All new homes in Wales will have to have an automatic suppression system fitted after the Welsh Assembly yesterday voted unanimously to introduce the measure.

The Domestic Fire Safety (Wales) Measure will apply to residences including dwelling houses, flats, residential care homes, educational residential accommodation and houses in multiple occupation.

In November last year, the general principles of the bill received unanimous approval by assembly members, and last month it went through detailed consideration in its committee stages.

Ann Jones, assembly member for the Vale of Clwyd who introduced the measure, told BBC News:

"After three years of campaigning and scrutiny we have seen a compelling moral and technical case for this life-saving device which has been working for decades in, amongst other places, cities in the USA and Canada.

"With sprinklers fitted, new homes in Wales will be amongst the safest in the world and that will go for new care homes and university accommodation too.

"Over 100 people have died in house fires in Wales since 2004 and we now know that sprinklers could have saved many of these lives."

According to a memorandum accompanying the measure, a failure to meet the duty of providing an automatic fire suppression system will be treated as equivalent to a breach of building regulations and subject to similar enforcement action.

The measure will go before the Privy Council on 7 April for formal approval.