A six-mile perimeter could be created around an area of North London to help Orthodox Jews avoid restrictions on the Sabbath.

Fishing wire would be suspended from tall poles to create the boundary for what would become a huge eruv, acting as an extension of the walls of a home which would give Jews greater freedom.

But there are concerns the proposal to Camden Council by a group of synagogues could lead to ‘ghettoisation’ of the area, following similar fears raised in another application nearby in 2014.

Location: Fishing wire would be suspended from tall poles to create the boundary for a huge eruv in Camden (in red), joining the current North West London eruv (blue). A Brondesbury eruv (pink) is also proposed

However local architect Daniel Rosenfelder, who is behind the plans for what would become one of Britain’s biggest eruvim, said it would make people ‘feel more part of the general community’.

He added: ‘Once the poles are there, they are impossible to find. People don’t notice them. The argument that it will destroy social cohesion – it hasn’t happened in any city in the world.

Speaking to the Camden New Journal, he continued: ‘Sabbath laws are one of the most significant of Jewish religious laws and wherever possible one tries to encourage them to be observed.

‘At the moment some people cannot leave the confines of their home on the Sabbath, especially wheelchair users and mothers with young children. It limits their lives considerably.’

Jewish law forbids activities on the Sabbath that could be considered as work, including the use of wheelchairs and prams and the carrying of babies and keys outside of someone’s home or garden.

And Jewish community members say the eruv would be extremely helpful to the disabled and elderly who are often left in their homes from nightfall on Fridays until the same time on Saturday.

Artist's impression: Two poles will be located at Elsworthy Terrace near the entrance to Primrose Hill

Proposed location: A pole is shown where it would stand at the top of Heath Street in Hampstead, North London

But one objector, Adrienne Burgess, told the council planning department: 'Hampstead is a multi-faith and no faith community. No religious group should impose its structures on this community.'

And Karen Cramer added: 'We need to take in the views of the whole community rather than just a minority religious group. Going ahead with the eruv also increases the threat of religious encroachment on public spaces from any religious groups.'

The argument that it will destroy social cohesion – it hasn’t happened in any city in the world Daniel Rosenfelder, architect

Meanwhile Elena Moynihan said: 'Much as we want to preserve people's freedom to faith, this should not be taken as an excuse to override the rights and rules of everybody else. Nobody else is allowed to build in our common spaces so why should religious bodies be?'

The eruv would be constructed with pairs of 18ft (5.5m) poles at 40 points around Camden, with each pair connected with a length of fishing wire measuring 0.02in (0.5mm) thick, reported The Times journalist Kaya Burgess.

This would join other eruvium that already exist in Britain, including an 11-mile perimeter in North West London, which is the UK's largest, and another in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.

Plans have also been submitted to construct eruvium in other areas of London including Highgate, Brondesbury and North Westminster.

But proposals to construct one in West Hampstead in 2014 drew written objections, including from one resident who wrote: ‘Adding wires creates the idea of a ghetto in modern society.’

Jewish community members say the eruv would be extremely helpful to the disabled and elderly who are often left in their homes from nightfall on Fridays until the same time on Saturday (file picture in North London)

Another criticised ‘outdated’ Jewish laws on the Sabbath, saying: ‘We should be protecting our progress as a society, not restricting it.’

And a letter to Camden planning department by former Labour council candidate Katharine Bligh, a past Labour council candidate, said at the time: 'An eruv would be extremely divisive, both among Jewish communities and between Jews and everybody else. It encourages a ghetto-like mentality.'

We should be protecting our progress as a society, not restricting it Complaint about 2014 eruv proposal

But 71-year-old Mr Rosenfelder has insisted that the new eruv would benefit 6,000 people, be funded by private donors and be checked on a weekly basis to ensure it was still intact.

Four years ago Britain got its first ‘hands-free’ pedestrian crossing - so devout Jews do not have to break a law against them operating machinery or using electricity on the Sabbath.

The crossing on London's North Circular at the Henlys Corner junction is near a busy synagogue.

Writing in the Daily Mail in 1994, former shadow cabinet minister Sir Gerald Kaufman, who was brought up as an Orthodox Jew, claimed eruvium let Jews 'create their own do-it-yourself ghetto'.

In an article, which followed the Jewish community in North London being allowed to have an eruv, he added: 'The herculean work performed by so many ethnic and religious groups, including Jews, to draw communities together could gradually be undone and our nation could become fragmented.'