Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, has backed calls to ban SUVs from the city as she warned the heavy vehicles could become “weapons” against other citizens.

The city council adopted a motion on Friday that calls on the government to bar sports utility vehicles (SUVs) from within Paris’s perimeter, along with any marketing material that promotes their use.

Ian Brossat, a communist senator for Paris, proposed a draft law earlier this month that would allow local councillors to expel SUVs from the city.

The government of Emmanuel Macron would need to grant the council the power to do so, and Ms Hidalgo has urged it to approve the measure as she continues a decade-long road safety campaign.

It came in response to the death of Paul Varry, a 27-year-old cyclist who was hit by an SUV in the city centre following an alleged road rage incident last month. The driver of the Mercedes has since been charged with murder.

Varry’s death sparked a major public debate about the sharing of public spaces, with the rapid expansion of bike lanes over the last few years.

“Paul was murdered,” Ms Hidalgo said earlier in the week before council members observed a minute of silence for him. “The car kills, it is a weapon when used in this way.”