CITY of York Council has refused a second request to publish the legal advice behind its decision to close Lendal Bridge.

The Press has been fighting to see the papers made public since the council announced it would refund drivers fined during the hugely unpopular trial closure.

It has made Freedom of Information requests asking for papers to be released now the trial is over and the council has publicly "drawn a line" under the issue, but has seen the requests refused by officials citing legal privilege.

The Press has argued that while the Coppergate advice can be legitimately withheld while that issue is ongoing, the advice relating to Lendal Bridge should now be disclosed.

However, the information governance team at the council has said that even with "significant public interest" in Lendal Bridge, the legal advice applies to both to Lendal Bridge and Coppergate which the council is still challenging the traffic adjudicator on, so legal privilege between lawyers and clients outweigh the argument for releasing the advice it was given.

In a letter to The Press, they said there is "a very strong case" keeping the legal privilege exemption, and at the moment the advice is so recent they believe it must stay in place.

Now the newspaper is planning appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office in a bid to force the council to open up about the legal advice.