Parking charges: 'It's unacceptable. We don't know how we will survive'

The manager of a decades-old family restaurant in Dean Street, Il Siciliano, said Westminster's plans would lead to a crippling loss in trade in an already difficult economic climate.

Sandro Lorabi, 50, warned the restaurant would be forced to reduce pay, cut staff or even close altogether.

He said: "It's totally unacceptable. We don't know how we'll survive - it's too much. We're under pressure already, so what do you think will happen when they bring in an extra charge?

"Instead of staff earning £10 an hour, they'll have to earn £5. Instead of getting two people to work I'll have to send one person home."

Il Siciliano opened in the Fifties and has been in the same family for three generations. Mr Lorabi said the business thrived during Soho's heyday, but like many other small firms it had been badly affected by the council's increasingly severe parking regulations. He added: "I'm not just going to keep the place open to pay the rent and the rates when I don't have any customers."