THE authority behind the controversial closure of a city centre bridge has insisted the scheme is legal.

City of York Council made its statement after a Government traffic adjudicator ruled the authority had no power to issue thousands of fines to motorists who crossed Lendal Bridge or used nearby Coppergate.

Chief executive Kersten England said: “Having received independent legal advice from a leading legal expert in this field, we are confident we are operating both Lendal Bridge and Coppergate schemes within the law.

“We also take assurances from Oxford, who contested with a similar appeal with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and successfully won.”

The content of the legal advice provided to the council has not been published, and the authority will now consider this advice when making decisions on the future of the traffic schemes.

The six-month experiment came to an end in February but a decision on whether to abandon or continue the scheme will not be made until May 6.

Until then the traffic restrictions will remain in place on both Lendal Bridge and Coppergate, meaning drivers who breach them will still be issued with fines.