A one-evening public inquiry into the Nine Elms Bridge river crossing plan will be held by Westminster Council.

The decision comes after a petition signed by 1,500 people was handed at a full council meeting on November 11.

The inquiry will be held at an environment committee meeting in January. Members from Wandsworth Council, which is behind the plans for the pedestrian and cycle crossing from Battersea to Pimlico in Westminster, Transport for London and other interested parties will be invited to attend and give evidence.

In a letter to Wandsworth Council leader Cllr Ravi Govindia, environment committee chairman Cllr Ian Adams writes: “We would very much appreciate the attendance of representatives from the London Borough of Wandsworth, in order to hear from a range of witnesses with knowledge of the proposals.”

The inquiry will examine the potential design of the crossing, its location and the consultation process.

The meeting will take place on at Westminster City Hall on January 18, but the inquiry could be extended to another day if all questions have not been answered during the meeting.

Over the past year Westminster Council has expressed a series of reservations over the river crossing plans. It culminated in calls for it to be scrapped altogether .

A competition to find a design for the bridge was whittled down from 74 entries to four in July.