An initiative to banish “size zero” models from Britain’s catwalks has been abandoned after other fashion capitals refused to follow London’s lead.

The planned requirement for models to obtain a doctor’s certificate proving that they were in good health had stong government support. But it was feared that models would boycott London Fashion Week, and New York, Paris and Milan said that the measure was unworkable.

Hilary Riva, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, will confirm that the scheme is being dropped in an open letter to the industry today.

Ms Riva blamed impracticalities in implementing the health certificate plan, a feeling among models that it discriminated against them and a lack of support from industry bodies in the other fashion capitals.

Given that each season of London Fashion Week generates about £40 million in sales, there were also heavy financial pressures at stake. London is still seen as the lesser sibling of the four fashion weeks, which run consecutively next month, leaving it in a weak position to force change.

“This will only work if it’s an international solution,” Ms Riva said. “I would love for there to be a simpler solution. If we could just tick a box and move on it would make everyone’s life easier but now this really is a long-term behavioural and educational campaign.”

Health certificates were proposed by the Model Health Inquiry, set up in March last year by the British Fashion Council and the London Development Agency in response to public concern at the “heroin chic” look of ultra-thin catwalk models.

Under the plan models were expected to pay between £250 and £500 for health certificates, which were to be renewed annually. Some models protested privately that they were paid considerably less than this for a single show.

Certification would have applied only to catwalk models, who make up 10 per cent of the modelling population, causing further claims of discrimination.

Tessa Jowell, then the Culture Secretary, backed the plan, saying that the fashion industry had a responsibility to look after its models and should remember the influence it had on the health and self-esteem of millions of girls.

The Chambre Syndicale in Paris thought health certificates for models lay outside its remit. In Milan the Camera Nazionale della Moda preferred self-regulation and in New York, the Council of Fashion Designers of America did not believe that such regulation was allowed under US working practices.

Steven Kolb, executive director of the New York council, said: “We looked at things like doctor’s certification and body mass index and decided that, for us, it wasn’t the appropriate recommendation. We felt it was wrong to force a girl to have a physical examination, especially because the signs of a problem aren’t always obvious.”

Health certificates were the most controversial of 14 proposals to meet concerns about underweight models, although others are progressing. The British Fashion Council has already banned models younger than 16 from working at London Fashion Week, put into place a permanent model health panel and created a representative body for the whole modelling profession. It has also sought to clean up backstage areas at shows, from which drugs and alcohol are banned.

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