London's Tory Mayor Boris Johnson returned to the High Court today in a fresh bid to evict veteran peace campaigner Brian Haw from Parliament Square.

His fellow demonstrators in the makeshift camp known as Democracy Village had to leave the site last July after the Court of Appeal backed possession orders granted to Mr Johnson by Mr Justice Griffith Williams.

But the court remitted "with considerable hesitation" the question of whether it was reasonable and proportionate to enforce the orders against Mr Haw.

The peace activist's long-standing presence on the pavement on the east side of Parliament Square was not challenged, except for his encroachment on to a small adjoining part of the gardens where he had pitched a tent.

Mr Haw is receiving treatment for lung cancer in Germany but fellow protester Barbara Tucker was in court in London today to hear the mayor's counsel David Forsdick repeat his stance that he could not envisage situations where he would agree to a semi-permanent camp protest on the site.

The hearing before Mr Justice Wyn Williams is expected to last for two days with judgment likely to be reserved to a later date.