A CAMPAIGNER who convinced a High Court judge to quash planning permission for 24 flats on a York school site may take further legal action, it emerged today.

Stephen Prophet, of protest organisation the Clifton Preservation Group, won a legal challenge after arguing correct procedures were not carried out when City of York Council considered the environmental impact of the flats at Clifton Preparatory School site in The Avenue, Clifton.

The council had to pay a five-figure sum in legal costs.

A second application for the scheme, including the correct environmental procedures, has now been passed by planners.

But Mr Prophet said necessary traffic audits to find if an existing exit road was suitable for the development had not been conducted.

He said: "We could take them to court again to force them to do this. There should be no need. The council can surely see that they're wrong here and they should accept that. All we want is to see this done right and properly.

"No such road audit was carried out before permission was granted. Our legal advisers have drawn this fact to the council's attention and a response is awaited."

The High Court ruled earlier this month that the council made a procedural error when working out if the scale of the development meant a full environmental study was needed.

It correctly concluded that it was not, but the way it was worked out did not follow correct procedures.

Mr Prophet said: "What we want the council to do is carry out a proper safety audit, which we think it is required to do by the Government, and then reconsider the application.

"The application needs to be reconsidered because a decision must be taken with all the facts. The planners haven't seen this audit so they have not been able to take all the facts into consideration."

A council spokeswoman said: "Permission was granted on condition that this traffic audit is carried out and Mr Prophet is correct in saying that the developers need to do that before work on the site begins.

"We are not aware that there is a problem with that at the moment."

Updated: 11:47 Wednesday, October 30, 2002