An experiment to cut noise near a church which featured in the hit movie Four Weddings and a Funeral has proved so successful it will become permanent.

Last February the City of London Corporation painted double yellow lines and created a disabled bay in Cloth Fair, near Smithfield Market.

The move was designed to cut down the overnight noise disturbance bothering residents.

The corporation said monitoring showed “that the double yellow lines have been successful in deterring taxi and private hire drivers parking/idling overnight which was the main cause of the disturbances”.

St Bartholomew the Great church (left), which features in Hugh Grant hit Four Weddings and a Funeral

After the trial was brought in, there were no complaints to the corporation’s environmental health team about overnight noise “associated with taxi and private hire drivers parking, idling and talking in Cloth Fair”, said the report.

Feedback was also positive from residents living near St Bartholomew the Great church, which featured in the film which made Hugh Grant a star. It featured as the church where Grant's character Charles has second thoughts about marrying and his wedding is called off.

One resident, though, was concerned about the loss of places to park near their home and “believed that the restrictions are needless”, according to a report considered by the corporation’s streets and walkways sub committee.

The report, however, said “there are still plenty of parking opportunities nearby”. It said there were ample places to park, with a 600-space off-street car park nearby.

The streets and walkways sub-committee, which met today (Monday, May 21), decided to make the experiment permanent, rather than going back to the single yellow lines which were there before.

Committee member Marianne Fredericks said: “It’s a much cheaper option than closing the road off with barriers.”