London's Southwark Council has agreed to allow people to tape and film its meetings in response to a request by the editor of a hyperlocal community website.

James Hatts, the editor of London SE1, submitted a letter to the council suggesting that journalists and members of the public should be allowed to record events at full council meetings and broadcast them to the public.

Following the submission, the council initiated a consultation exercise called "democracy commission" and the council approved the request.

However, the council said that video recordings will require the prior consent of the mayor.

Hatts said he was happy that his suggestion was considered by the board and Southwark is the first council to allow audio and video recordings of its meetings.

He added that the changes to council rules will enable them to add multimedia to their coverage.