A DRIVER has won his battle against a parking fine in what campaigners claim is a landmark case.

Jim Keiller took Bolton Council to an appeal hearing, claiming the wording on the ticket issued to him contravened the rules.

He presented his evidence to the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS), which ruled in his favour.

Parking campaigners now say town hall chiefs should refund fines paid on 222,000 tickets issued between 2000, when the council took control of parking enforcement, and August, 2006, when the wording was changed to comply with regulations. This could amount to £6 million.

Mr Keiller, aged 61, had parked outside Bolton Library for 12 minutes when he was given a ticket by a warden because his wife June's blue disabled badge was covering a clock card on the windscreen showing the time he had parked the car.

He paid the fine after an initial appeal to Bolton Council was rejected.

But Mr Keiller then discovered the ticket contravened the rules because it showed only the date and time the ticket was issued and not the date and time the contravention occurred.

The council changed its tickets to include both times on August 23, last year, just eight days after Mr Keiller received his ticket.

Its move followed a High Court ruling on August 2 against Barnet Council, which had also been issuing tickets with only one of the two dates.

Mr Keiller was told by the Local Government Ombudsman that he could appeal to the National Parking Adjudication Service.

The council refunded his £30 to allow the appeal, but decided to fight it and doubled the fine because it had not been paid within 14 days.

Mr Keiller won his case, which cost the council £625 to fight, after being represented by Neil Herron, whose company, Parking Appeals Ltd, helps motorists to appeal against fines.

Mr Keiller said: "This was not about the money, but the principle. They showed by changing the format of their penalty charges to include the date of contravention that they knew they were illegal, but still pursued me for 15 months."

Mr Herron said the ruling had "far reaching implications" for anyone who paid a parking fine in Bolton before August 23, last year.

"The council must refund everyone unlawfully fined and ensure that they take every step to find the person who paid," he said.

A council spokesman said the authority did not agree with the decision, but said it would not be "proportionate" to seek a review. He said appeal adjudicator Stephen Knapp had ruled that the council had not acted "unreasonably" and should not therefore have to pay Mr Keiller's £700 costs.

The spokesman added: "The decision of Mr Knapp is by no means a landmark decision.

"The decision may be persuasive to other adjudicators dealing with similar issues, but it does not set a precedent.

"Bolton Council is under no obligation to volunteer refunds to motorists, but will carefully consider representations made by motorists seeking refunds on a case by case basis."