DETAILS of a top QC's bills for advising City of York Council after its trial closure of Lendal Bridge and Coppergate ran into trouble last year have been revealed.

Timothy Straker's professional fees for his legal work for the authority came to a total of £15,030, plus VAT, according to papers obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

He gave advice on 'bus lane enforcement of the traffic regulation orders at Lendal Bridge and Coppergate' over an eight-month period from early April 2014 to December 2014.

His work started just days after an independent traffic adjudicator gave a bombshell ruling last April that the council had no power to issue tens of thousands of penalty charge notices for breaching the restrictions.

The council said then that it would be seeking independent legal advice on the ruling, and the documents, obtained by a campaigner against the Coppergate fines, John Stather, show the price paid by taxpayers for that work.

The bills covered work in areas such as perusing papers and advising on grounds for a judicial review.

The first fee was £3,000 for 'urgent opinion' on April 3, 2014, with another £2,750 charged on April 9 for 'working on legal analysis and grounds of review'.

There was then a further £3,250 fee on May 2 for 'perusing papers and advising in consultation', plus another £80 in expenses for a train fare, and a £2,250 bill followed on May 12 for 'draft letter and grounds for judicial review'.

A £1,750 fee followed on July 7 for 'perusing papers and advising in consultation', with another £150 fee for a 'note' on August 13.

The final bills were for £1,350 for 'opinion' on December 4, 2014, and for £450 for 'supplemental questions and response', on December 9.

A council spokeswoman said yesterday that, given the financial implications involved with the scheme, it was important the authority sought independent legal advice in relation to the adjudicator’s decision.

"This was to ensure that as an authority it received impartial legal advice in order that it could make informed decisions regarding this matter," she added.