PRESSURE is growing on Oxfordshire County Council to repay fines to drivers caught on camera in Oxford after it emerged thousands of pounds were paid out in a similar case in Sheffield.

Last week the Oxford Mail revealed the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) ruled the council’s bus lane enforcement in High Street was flawed.

According to the TPT, the county council correctly put in place a prohibition on most traffic going through a small section of High Street, but it had not made it a bus lane, so it should not have been fining drivers for using the stretch.

Adjudicators upheld a number of appeals, but the council is contesting the ruling by applying to the High Court for a judicial review.

Now Neil Herron, of Parking Appeals, which advises drivers on fines legislation, said the case in Sheffield should be carefully examined by transport officers at County Hall.

Mr Herron, who lobbied Sheffield City Council to refund drivers £350,000, said: “I believe there is a parallel between the Oxfordshire County Council case and the Sheffield case.

“Both cases involve a bus lane and a restriction on the highway which apparently did not meet the legal requirement.

“We asked Sheffield City Council to do the decent thing and refund the money to avoid the prospect of litigation, and the council took the decision not to take the matter to a judicial review. Oxfordshire County Council has every right to take this to a review, but if the review is not found in its favour the council should refund drivers.”

Mr Herron last night questioned Department for Transport guidance which suggested drivers could not claim refunds after paying fines, and added: “It’s only fair now to see what the High Court judicial review decides because that will be binding, and a more important ruling than one by the TPT.

“If the council loses, it could take the case to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords but that would be dangerous territory for a local authority.”

Oxfordshire County Council collected £635,435 in fines in the first year of camera enforcement, in which 19,469 tickets were issued between March 2007 and March last year.

Last year Sheffield City Council agreed to refund about 13,000 drivers after they were fined for driving through the Hillsborough Bus and Tram Gate.

Natalie Johnson, a spokesman for the council, said an adjudicator examined the cases of seven drivers and decided the road markings in the area were confusing.

As a result, she said the council decided to pay out, leaving it with a potential bill of £350,000, although only £100,000 had been claimed in refunds to date.

Following the dispute, the council made amendments to signs in the area of the bus and tram lane, paying particular attention to markings on the road, the key issue raised by the adjudicator.

Oxfordshire County council Labour group leader Liz Brighouse said: “It will be disastrous if the judicial review goes against the council because then the taxpayer will have to find the money to refund drivers.”

Mr Herron said the council should keep details of drivers’ fines for six years after they had paid, under normal data protection requirements. He has not yet advised any Oxfordshire drivers over the High Street bus lane but offered to do so free of charge.

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: “There is no comparison between the Sheffield case and the Oxford case. The Sheffield case related to signage. That is not an issue in Oxford case, where the issue is whether the traffic regulation order satisfies the statutory definition of a bus lane order.”

affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk