A RESIDENTS association chairman said he is prepared to go to prison after being lumbered with a £24,000 bill following a dispute over road names.

Retired John James, 78, received an invoice from Basildon Council last week asking him to pay £24,446 for legal costs incurred in a court battle over plans to change the addresses of more than 500 homes on the Five Links estate, in Laindon.

Mr James was one of three people who challenged the council, representing more than 400 residents who voiced their opposition to the proposals.

They triumphed at Basildon Magistrates' Court last April when a district judge ruled that the council could not impose the changes, but their victory was short lived when the authority appealed.

The High Court overruled the decision, but it came at a cost to the council.

Mr James said he could not afford to reimburse Basildon Council for its legal bill.

In a document seen by the Echo, the authority initially claimed it would "accept the decision and discontinue the renaming and renumbering scheme" after the magistrates' court hearing.

Mr James said the High Court appeal came as a shock.

He said: "Before the magistrates' court, the council said they would stand or fall by that result.

"They said they would accept the decision if that meant discontinuing with the naming and numbering of the scheme.

"We agreed that it would finish there and then."

Mr James, who runs weekly outdoor classes at Northlands Park, Pitsea, for primary school pupils, said that it was unfair for him to pay the legal fees because the council "went back on their word."

He said: "We had no say in the High Court hearing - we had nothing to do with it.

"We thought it had finished and we didn't have a choice in what happened next.

"If we had nothing to do with it then we shouldn't have to pay for it.

"I can't pay and I am willing to go to jail on the principle that I shouldn't have to."

Much of the residents costs were paid for by Frank Ferguson, Ukip councillor for Lee Chapel.

Mr James, of Somercotes, Laindon has until Tuesday, June 7 to pay the legal fees according to the invoice.