Last night, borough councillors were due to vote on planning permission for an eruv, a symbolic religious zone, in Borehamwood. TESSA ROBERTS speaks to Orthodox Jews to find out why it is so important for them.

Efrat Arnold, 27, of Theobald Street, has been confined to her home every Sabbath since moving to Borehamwood six months ago.

She has two children, aged two years and four months, but cannot take them out in a buggy on a Friday evening or Saturday, or carry them to a friend's house over the road.

Under Jewish law, the Sabbath is a day of rest, and the lack of an eruv prohibits her from doing these things in a public space that day.

For her, and the estimated 400 to 500 other observant Orthodox Jews in Elstree and Borehamwood, the only solution is to create a symbolically private space. The proposed Borehamwood eruv would be marked by 34 sets of poles joined by wires, to bridge gaps in existing infrastructure and natural boundaries. It needs planning permission from Hertsmere Borough Council.

With the eruv, Mrs Arnold would be able to take her children out during the Sabbath, visit the synagogue, family and friends.

She said: "If I want to take my children out, they need to be carried and I can't do that, so I can't go to my in-laws a 25-minute walk away. I can't have people round who have small children, and I can't take my children to the synagogue.

"I almost feel less part of the community because I can't join in. It makes me feel a little bit lonely. As my husband has more of an obligation to go to synagogue, I look after the children, which I love to do, but I feel stuck in."

Even a short journey can be problematic without an eruv, because a parent is prohibited from picking up a young child if they fall over or refuse to walk.

Danny Jacobs, 30, of Theobald Street, said: "My youngest son is 14 months old, we tried to walk him over the road on Saturday, and he sat down halfway.

"Even to go across the road, the eruv would make a world of difference, that you could just take your children out, socialise and be with your friends and family on that special day."

Young families are not the only residents who would benefit from the boundary.

The eruv would allow disabled or elderly members of the community to use zimmerframes, wheelchairs and walking sticks during the Sabbath.

But not everyone is in favour of the eruv and the council has received objections on the grounds it might be visually unattractive.

David Newman, 58, of Anthony Road, refuted this. He said: "There are already two boundaries in north west London, and there is no impact on society.

"In Borehamwood, you won't even see it, 98 per cent will be made with natural boundaries already existing.

"It's important to stress it is only a private domain as Jewish people regard it. For the rest of the population it's a public area, we're not taking over the area."

Practising Jews deny a eruv is a loophole for breaking the Sabbath. Aryeh Myers, 30, Ashdown Drive, said: "It's definitely not a get-out clause. Jewish law goes back 2,000 years and dictates about building an eruv. It's almost a requirement to do so, to enable Jewish people to live and keep the Sabbath."