Royal Mail Group called on the Mayor’s help after squabbles over the 1m sq ft residential-led scheme with the London Boroughs of Islington and Camden whose jurisdiction the site straddles.

It hopes to build 683 homes as well as shops, offices, restaurants and public space on half of its site in Farringdon.

If given the go-ahead, the Sir Terry Farrell to designed high rise scheme would transform the area surrounding Farringdon Road and Phoenix Place.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “London is growing at an unprecedented rate and it is absolutely vital that we get on with the important work of building thousands of new homes as quickly as we can.

“By taking over this application it should be possible to speed up the decision making process. My team will be working closely with the local authorities and Royal Mail without further delay.”

The Mayor will now consider all of the planning issues and address the concerns expressed by the boroughs and local residents before taking a decision on the planning application.

The remaining half of the Mount Pleasant site would continue to be a postal sorting office, employing up to 3,000 people.

It is hoped that the planning application will be brought before the Mayor in the summer.

The Mayor used similar powers to ‘call in’ a planning application for up to 3,500 new homes in Lewisham in October