Calls are mounting for Ealing Council to hand back over £1 million in fines as the authority scraps six box junctions in the borough.

The council will remove six of the box junctions - four in Southall, one in Hanwell and another in The Mall, Ealing - following guidance from the Department for Transport.

But the authority is being urged to refund any penalties for stopping in the box junctions amid accusations the charges were not obtained fairly.

Barrie Segal, founder of website AppealNow.com, which helps people contest motoring fines, said: "If these box junctions are not legal, then any penalty charge issued is not enforceable.

"In my view, as a charging authority, Ealing cannot keep any money and if they fail to return it they are acting illegally."

Disabled pensioner Peter Bayliss, who lives in Southall, had been penalised for stopping at the box junction in St Joseph's Drive last month but was told by Ealing that his ticket has now been suspended.

He said: "Ealing Council has been ripping people off. I would say they have been over-zealous in penalising motorists, including the disabled, and they should give people their money back."

Bassam Mahfouz, Labour parliamentary candidate for Ealing Central and Acton, said he had campaigned for action earlier.

He added: "This is a humiliating defeat for Ealing Council.

"I will be supporting people who call on the council to pay back money they have taken on these junctions, as it's tantamount to unjust enrichment."

But community services leader, councillor Phil Taylor, says Mr Mahfouz is being opportunist and inflammatory.

He said: "Following a meeting with the Department for Transport in June we understood double-width yellow boxes could be placed at the T-junctions, as long as there was sufficient traffic flow in the area.

"Now eight months after we originally approached them, they appear to be suggesting this is not the case, but have still failed to provide us with a report setting out their position, despite repeated requests.

"It's ridiculous that it has taken the government department which sets the rules so many months to interpret its own manual and we still have not received a definitive response. This just underlines how unclear the regulations are.

"Congestion is one of the top concerns highlighted in our annual residents' survey. The yellow box junctions were introduced several years

ago to respond to those concerns and we still believe their installation was appropriate and they are the most effective way of preventing gridlock on the borough's major roads.

"However, we feel we are now left with no alternative but to suspend enforcement on these six junctions with immediate effect and remove them from the road."

Anyone who has paid a penalty charge notice since the DfT's revised guidance was issued on October 30, will be refunded. Any unpaid fines for those junctions will not be pursued by the council.