British journalist Matthew Wright has launched a campaign to have actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor commemorated with a special plaque.

Before her death in 2011, the Hollywood icon made Wright promise to secure a blue plaque to mark her birthplace in Hampstead Garden Suburb, north London.

However, English Heritage, the organisation responsible for allocating the markers, has a strict rule that a star must be dead for 20 years before they receive the posthumous honour.

Wright's request for the organisation to make an exception in light of Taylor's huge fame and exemplary humanitarian work was rejected, and an e-petition has now been launched to gather public support for the campaign to have the rule relaxed.

A statement posted on the campaign's website reads, "One of Dame Elizabeth Taylors (sic) most personal wishes prior to her death was to have a blue plaque erected at the place of her birth... Her well established reputation is unlikely to diminish in the next 17 years... English Heritage must make an exception to their 20 year rule for Dame Elizabeth Taylor."