A COUPLE hit with a £15,000 court bill after waging a failed battle against a £60 speeding ticket are continuing their fight.

Expert physicist Iain Fielden and wife Vikki were ordered to pay the huge costs by a judge at Bradford Crown Court last June after failing in their appeal against a speeding fine dating back to June 2006.

It was believed to be the costliest speed camera case ever brought in the UK.

But, nearly three years after they were trapped by the camera at New Mill Road in Brockholes, the Sheffield couple are refusing to let the matter lie.

They are risking even further expense by lodging an appeal with the High Court.

Dr Fielden said: “It is a worry, but this is a matter of principle.”

Mrs Fielden, 49, was clocked driving at 36mph in a 30mph zone on June 4 2006 when the couple were returning home after visiting friends in Honley.

She was issued with a £60 fixed penalty notice and given three penalty points.

But Dr Fielden, who works for Sheffield Hallam University and has won awards for his work studying light, said the reading was wrong because the camera was positioned on a bend in the road.

He said, because of the way light travels, the camera could not have made an accurate measurement.

The couple’s first appeal was rejected by Huddersfield magistrates, who increased the fine to £100 and ordered them to pay £200 costs.

They then took the matter to Bradford Crown Court, where Dr Fielden represented his wife.

He claimed that, according to his best estimate, the car was only travelling at about 31mph.

But the judge, Recorder Jonathan Hill, found in favour of the speed camera company and told the Fieldens they would have to pay £15,000 towards the costs of the case.

Dr Fielden would not go into detail about the basis of the High Court appeal.

But he said: “It is based on new evidence that has come to light.”

He added: “Appealing to the High Court puts the whole matter of payment of the costs on hold.

“Things have been OK since the hearing, apart from all the extra work involved in lodging the appeal.”

The couple expect it to be months before they are given a date for the hearing.