How many Brit bathrooms are over 3 meters in size? It's true though that most people electrocuted in the bath were using an extension lead from the hallway.
Here in Canada they make an exception to our 1m minimum rule for extremely small bathrooms where it is allowed to be as close as 50cm in a situation where a greater distance is not "practicable."
Back in the pre-GFCI days, we were
allowed but not required to put in a "razor" outlet that was transformer isolated and current limited by the impedance of the transformer. Those transformer isolated plugs are no longer allowed by code basically ever since GFCIs came into existence.
You are now
required to put a GFCI-protected plug adjacent to the wash basin(s), but must be far enough from the tub or shower that it cannot be reached by someone from in the tub/shower itself. (Or, at least you were as of this point that I'm looking at, based on the 1998-2002 code book, I would have to consult the latest regulations to provide
exact, specific current advice.)