Mayor's skyscraper plan under attack

Ken Livingstone's plan to increase the number of skyscrapers in London has come under fire.

His ambition to add up to 15 new skyscrapers by 2013 is set out in the London Plan, the Mayor's planning framework for the capital over the next 10-15 years.

But on this, as on other subjects, the panel of government inspectors which examined the plan has clipped his wings.

In his draft plan, the mayor added Paddington, Waterloo, London Bridge, Stratford and Elephant & Castle to the City, Croydon and Canary Wharf on the list of areas where he would like to see "very tall buildings".

But the inspectors' report comes down on the side of English Heritage and the Association of Local Government, and rejects this centralisation.