A former Richmond councillor is calling for a referendum on whether there should be sex shops in the borough.

Barrister Phillip Taylor raised the idea at a council meeting on Tuesday after becoming concerned at the presence of establishments such as Kew’s Private Shop.

Despite being thwarted at the first hurdle, as it was beyond the remit of the licensing committee he addressed, Mr Taylor has maintained he would look into how a public vote could be launched in future.

He said: “There is a need for local people to be more involved with the decision-making process.

“I am asking it be referred to full council for a referendum to be held.

“There should be some view, established by the community, about what they want on what is considered by many people as an important issue.”

Mr Taylor suggested the idea of a referendum following the application for licence renewal for the Private Shop, in Kew Road.

At Tuesday’s licensing sub-committee meeting, Mr Taylor suggested the initial granting of a licence six years ago had been flawed and had been approved in spite of public objection. He asked that a renewal not be granted.

However, Councillor Brian Miller, chairman of the sub-committee, said: “We found this a very difficult decision to reach and had to discuss it long and hard. If this had been a new application the committee wouldn’t have granted it outright.

“However, as it is being treated without objection, or complaints reported to the authorities and no complaints from the general public other than the interested parties [here tonight] we feel, given the circumstances, the only course open to us is we shall have to continue to grant the licence with the existing conditions.”

Since 2004 the council’s regulatory committee policy is the “appropriate number of sex establishments within each ward is nil” but it can not be used retrospectively to close existing shops.

Once the localism bill is passed later this year, residents could force a referendum by submitting a petition signed by 5 per cent of local electors on a relevant council issue. It must be deemed appropriate by the authority for it to be dealt with.

Alternatively, delivering a petition of 1,000 signatures to the council would, lobbying a councillor or asking a question at a council meeting, could trigger a debate on the issue.