TRAFFIC restrictions are coming back to Coppergate, just months after the council finished refunding up to £380,000 in fines it handed out on the road.

Senior councillors are next month expected to rubber stamp a new legal order and new signage to bring access restrictions back. Two years ago the legal row over Coppergate and the Lendal Bridge closure saw the enforcement cameras turned off.

Cllr Ian Gillies, the executive member for transport at City of York, has spoken of the plans for Coppergate and the rest of the city centre, ahead of the key meeting at the end of June.

He said: "I have asked officers to progress this, but we must be absolutely certain of all the signage and legal notices in place, unlike the last time. We don't want to repeat previous mistakes."

Initially, Cllr Gillies said he wants the renewed Coppergate restrictions to be the same as the previous rules - barring access form 8am to 7pm seven days a week. Longer term, he said the restrictions could start further down Pavement and Piccadilly to make sure they were in the right place  

The move towards reintroducing the Coppergate restrictions comes as part of a wider push to tackle traffic and congestion around the city centre, Cllr Gillies said, which could include the pedestrianisation of nearby Fossgate - where a booming collection of independent shops and cafes have long asked for the change to make their corner of the city more appealing to pedestrians and shoppers.

"I don't want to wait until that is all in place before bringing the Coppergate restrictions back," Cllr Gillies added.

Restrictions were first made on access to Coppergate years ago, but the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras were only used to catch drivers and send out fines during the Lendal Bridge trial closure from August 2013.

The scheme was abandoned in spring 2014, and a legal row concluded in April 2015 when the Traffic Penalty Tribunal ruled that City of York Council did have the power to fine drivers for using Coppergate, but said its legal "traffic order" was "drafted carelessly and obtusely" and criticised road signs which did not make the rules clear.

In July last year the council's ruling Executive decided to refund the 12,000 drivers fined on Coppergate. It has set aside £387,000 in accounts to cover the refunds, and expected to foot a further £40,000 bill for administering the refunds scheme.

At the time, council leaders Chris Steward and Keith Aspden said the move would help put controversial transport policies of the council's past behind them, and restore York's reputation as a visitor friendly city.

Applications for a refund closed at the end of March this year, and as of February just over 6,500 of the 12,000 fines had been paid back.

The Executive decided in October to reintroduce the restrictions, and the June meeting will iron out details of when the rules will come back in to force and what form they will take.