LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson faces “one heck of a fight” from the local authority over his plans to double the number of gipsy sites in the capital.

In the draft London Plan, the mayor says there is a need to increase the number of pitches across Greater London from 524 to 1,062.

As part of the scheme, Bromley Council has been asked to provide 58 more pitches by 2017, to add to the 36 it already provides in the borough.

The new pitch targets are based on a study which was done in 2006 called the Fordham Report.

This study says many gipsies and travellers have a psychological aversion to ‘bricks and mortar’.

Bromley Council leader Councillor Stephen Carr says he will fight the plan, adding: “It is a preposterous suggestion and we have no intention of delivering it.

“We are not happy at all and it is something we won’t do unless we are forced to do it.

“It does not bear in mind the infrastructure required and the impact of the pitches.

“We have written to the mayor and responded to the Greater London Authority consultation.

"The Mayor knows my views quite clearly.”

He added: “The requirement is totally flawed and I just do not believe it is necessary.”

It is not yet known if extra pitches would be created at the pre-existing traveller sites in Star Lane, St Mary Cray, and Old Maidstone Road, on the border of St Paul’s Cray, or whether a new site would be needed.

Cllr Carr said: “Most of these families, whether it is Irish or Romany, do not get on with each other so they would not want to mix.

“We are doing what’s reasonable but there is a limit.

“Someone sees Bromley as a soft touch but it is going to be one heck of a fight if they try to bring this in.”

But the Bromley Gipsy and Traveller Project says many more pitches are needed.

Project worker James Bellsham-Revell said: “A lot of my clients have said if they had the chance they would be living in a caravan.

“If [Bromley Council] is dragging its feet I can see us still having this discussion in seven or eight years.

“Bromley has always asked us to set a figure but we have always refused because the traveller population is a young population and it is always changing.

“There does need to be a huge increase in plot allocation. Whatever we can get would be a bonus.”

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “We welcome all comments on London Plan policies.

“If the Mayor ignored the legal requirement to provide pitches for gipsies and travellers it would risk invalidating the replacement London Plan and would prevent the introduction of new planning policies, for which he was elected.

“While the number of pitches identified in the plan is an increase on current provision they are much lower than the number required by the Government’s own guidance.”