Mayfair pushes to have its own parish council

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They plan to build on the "neighbourhood spirit" generated by the successful battle against Westminster council's plans to introduce parking charges in the evening.

Estate agent Tony Lorenz, who chairs the Mayfair and St James's Residents Society, said: "I think it's a brilliant idea. We would be able to have a major input into decisions on planning, licensing, traffic and policing that affect residents and businesses."

Westminster is currently consulting on whether parish councils should be revived in the heart of London. They were abolished in 1963 when the GLC was formed but legislation passed in 2007 has paved the way for their return.

One Mayfair resident said: "The parking saga proved that there was a democratic deficit. We need a model that works and this is it."

A group of Westminster church leaders have met in Mayfair to back the idea of restoring parish councils to the "villages" of London. Religious groups were among those most disillusioned and angered by Westminster council's handling of the proposed "nightlife tax".

But Michael Beckett, church warden at St George's Hanover Square, in the heart of Mayfair, has accused the council of "burying" the consultation.

He said: "Not one copy to our knowledge was sent to any of the 48 churches in Westminster, and we found out last week only by a chance remark from someone in the Queens Park area of the city.

"The potential re-introduction of 'parish councils' should be brought to the attention of the relevant parishes within the City of Westminster if the consultation is to have any credence.

"This has shades of the parking consultation over the Sunday and evening charges which likewise we only found out about by chance."

However the claims were denied by council, which said its consultation document was sent to the Westminster Churches Together group and that 700 copies had been sent out in total.

There has not been an active church parish council in Mayfair since 1899 when the Parish of St George Hanover Square became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster.