No way to pay £10,000 fine

Two people face a £10,000 bill after losing their High Court battle with Mayor Ken Livingstone over his congestion charge - and today they said they didn't know how they were going to pay.

Cathy Preece, 50, is on income support and Gareth Adamson, 40, is living off a student loan. The pair had put their names on the legal challenge brought by Kennington Residents' Association, and faced the Mayor in court alongside Westminster council.

But at the end of the hearing - in which the judge threw out claims the Mayor had not consulted properly on his scheme - lawyers representing Mr Livingstone demanded legal costs of up to £2.5 million, including £100,000 from the KRA. Mr Justice Maurice Kay ruled that although Miss Preece and Mr Adamson had "come to this enormous case in a small family car and found themselves behind a jugger naut", he stressed: "I don't think they should have a free ride."

If the pair cannot pay the bill within 56 days the 50 to 60 members of the KRA must pay it by default. The association is required to send the Mayor within seven days the names and addresses of all its members on 24 May this year, when proceedings started.

If they are still unable to pay, the Mayor can take them to county court for an enforcement order and, in theory, seek bankruptcy, send in the bailiffs and take any other steps to recover the debt.

Outside court Miss Preece, who has lived in Kennington since 1986, said she feared the final bill, including the KRA's own legal costs, could rise to £20,000. "I don't know how we are going to be able to pay that. There are certainly no millionaires in our association, just local people," she said. "They are mostly council tenants and we agreed to put our names forward on this legal action because there had to be property owners who could see the value of their homes would be affected by the congestion charge.

"I am glad the hearing is over but I would not do it again. What message is the judge giving to other people who just want to join a community residents' association? The implications are very serious.

" The bottom line is we will have to go round with the hat and if anybody would like to contribute I can promise you it would be very welcome."

Mr Adamson, a mature student at City University studying to become a software engineer, added: "I hope we will be able to raise the money but I have no idea how yet. Obviously we knew it was a risk to put our names forward but we didn't think it would get this far."

The KRA, which has received considerable legal advice, originally believed its application for a judicial review of the Mayor's plans would be dealt with in a short "paper hearing", but it was then joined to Westminster's full-scale application in a "rolled-up hearing" that lasted six days.

The judge awarded full costs against Westminster for its failed application, and was told the Mayor's legal team spent £100,000 dealing with the issues raised by the KRA.

Mr Justice Kay said: "I don't think they were acting in the public's interest but in the private interest of themselves and other members of the KRA, but I do not consider them vexatious troublemakers and accept the sincerity and genuineness of their views.

"In my judgment it is right that they and the KRA should make some contribution to the Mayor's costs but it would be wrong if it was overburdening.

"I make a very limited order for a contribution of £10,000 to the costs of the Mayor and Transport for London."

KRA chairman Gordon McDougall said: "These are two brave people, who live on benefits, trying to stop a juggernaut turning the street they live in into an area of pollution.

"This is a sad day for justice and for London when the Human Rights Act doesn't protect you from being pursued by the Mayor's vindictiveness."

A spokesman for Transport for London said the Mayor had a statutory duty to recover his legal costs. "Mr Livingstone is in charge of a public body and this is public money and the judge emphasised that these people should not have a free ride," he said.

"There is no discretion for the Mayor to say, 'You are only individuals so walk away and we will pay for it'."

Sources close to the Mayor point out that he offered the KRA a deal before the case came to court that if they dropped their legal bid, he would waive his lawyers' fees - but it refused.

They also say Mr Livingstone met residents in the area with a view to adjusting the boundaries of the central London zone to take in their wishes, but found that there was no consensus.

One source said: "We will continue to have dialogue with them and want to re-emphasise that the boundaries are flexible and if it needs tweaking we will do it."