Brisbane City Council has come down on the side of free speech by rejecting a call to ban street preachers from proselytising in the CBD.

The council was presented with a petition, albeit with just 11 signatures, seeking to ban preachers from the inner-city late last year, which went to a council committee last week.

A petition to ban street preachers from Brisbane streets has been rejected by the council. Credit:Scott Cramer

Head petitioner Wayne Smith said he and "many others" were tired of being "harassed" in the Queen Street Mall and surrounding areas.

"A few weeks ago it was raining and they illegally moved their table of biblical materials under the shop awning outside the Myer Centre, in direct violation of their permit conditions," he said.