THE new Labour group leader in City of York Council has pledged to refund all fines issued under the controversial Lendal Bridge closure, and freeze council tax within hours of his election.

Councillor Dafydd Williams was elected leader of the Labour group this afternoon, and said he was instructing officers within the council to contact everyone who had been fined under the traffic restrictions and offer them a refund.

More than 55,000 drivers were fined for crossing the bridge during the controversial six-month trial closure, and calls have been made from all parties for the council to proactively refund the fines after a report criticised the scheme.

Coun Williams said: "I think listening to what people have said, it's an issue they feel strongly about.

"The council got this wrong, and we are keen to make amends and move forward. We cannot put the Lendal Bridge issue to bed while people are still owed money."

Giving his first interview since he was elected to replace James Alexander as leader of the Labour group, Coun Williams also pledged to freeze council tax rates next year - with or without funds from central Government.

He said: "I'm hearing a lot of residents are struggling to make ends meet, and one of the ways we can make it easier for them is to keep council tax at the same rate it's currently at. We don't know if the Government are offering the money to do that but we're going to set to do it anyway."

Coun Williams said the group was working to the assumption it would need to find one per cent, or roughly £700,000, to maintain council tax at the current level, but it was likely funding would be offered to do so from central funds.

He said: "We hope the freeze money will be available, but if it's not, we will look to deal with that from the rest of the council's budgets."