Street trader crackdown is stalled

The Bills failed to complete their report stages and will now return to the Commons at a later date.

Critics have argued that laws extending local authority powers would take away the historic rights of pedlars to sell their goods freely in the streets.

Four private bills relating to Leeds, Bournemouth, Manchester and Reading were being considered by MPs.

The Bournemouth Borough Council Bill and Manchester City Council Bill have faced tortuous progress since first being introduced to Parliament in 2007.

Christopher Chope, Conservative MP for Christchurch, again attacked the legislation yesterday, saying: "It is trying to introduce through the back door a re-definition of what a pedlar can do lawfully."

Mr Chope rejected a charge by Tory colleague Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth) that he was trying to "wreck" the legislation relating to Bournemouth by tabling dozens of amendments.

He insisted he was trying to "improve" the Bill, not "wreck" it.

Similar bills relating to Canterbury and Nottingham cleared the Commons earlier this month and are now being considered in the Lords.