THE hopes of hundreds of motorists have been dashed after a council insisted it would not refund up to £70,000 in parking fines.

Darlington Borough Council had been examining the legality of its fixed penalty notices after the D&S Times revealed how solicitor Simon Catterall had his £30 fine waived after spotting a potential loophole.

The public relations officer for the Tees Valley Law Society was issued with a ticket earlier this year after he stopped briefly in Northumberland Street - one of several roads in and around the town centre to have parking meters installed last November.

The council accepted the ticket did not state that it was an offence under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the driver to fail to pay the excess charge, and waived the fine.

It led to the council's legal team having to review the legality of all the tickets it had issued since the controversial charges came into effect.

More than 2,300 fines have been given out since November, equating to about £70,000, and there was speculation that the authority might have to refund drivers.

However, a spokesman said that the council had reached the decision that part of the notice was legally correct to allow fines to be issued and collected.

"The wording was correct for us to collect the excess charge, but the wording was incorrect if we were looking to take out proceedings against people who refused to pay it," he said.

It means the hundreds of drivers who have already paid their fines will not receive any money back.

The wording on notices has now been changed.

People who have already been prosecuted for not paying up and now want to pursue the matter further will have to take it up with solicitors.

The spokesman said: "Those cases would be dealt with by the courts and considered on their individual merits."