A BUSINESSMAN who was awarded almost £50,000 when he took Lancashire police to court for not paying their bills was celebrating today after the force lost its appeal against the ruling.

Raymond Stansfield took Lancashire Constabulary to court last year after the force failed to pay him for storing a stolen vehicle for five years.

A judge at Preston County Court awarded him £38,587 plus interest of £7,717 and costs after hearing Mr Stansfield had sent his original bill for £12,000 to police bosses more than two years ago -- but had still not received any payment.

The force decided to appeal against the judge's ruling but was refused leave to appeal by a single judge sitting in the Court of Appeal.

Mr Stansfield, of Rawtenstall, who was operating his vehicle recovery business from Stacksteads when he stored the car for the force, said: "I am now expecting to get my money from the police.

"The payment should come through automatically but if it doesn't I will instruct my solicitor to write to the police and ask them to pay up.

"Once I have received payment I am considering sending them another bill for £27,000 for the storage of two vehicles I picked up and stored for them which had been involved in a robbery at Flax Moss Post Office in Haslingden a few years ago."

The original case came to court after Mr Stansfield agreed to store a number of stolen vehicles for the force which had been recovered from Rochdale in 1995.

Mr Stansfield said: "People were prosecuted and went to jail and it took us two days to remove the vehicles from the site. There were six or seven vehicles and a lot of goods."

But five years later one of the cars -- a Mitsubishi Shogan -- was still in his Stacksteads mill and he hadn't received a penny in storage costs from the police.

Mr Stansfield, who now runs his business R & M Stansfield from Tile Street in Bury, said he had always made it clear to police that he would be charging them for storing vehicles.

It is understood police bosses believed he was storing vehicles voluntarily and did not believe there was any agreement to pay him.

Mr Stansfield's solicitor Alec Graham of Farnworth's in Burnley said: "The police appealed but they were refused leave to appeal by a single judge sitting in the Court of Appeal in London on just the paperwork.

"The force could have taken if further to an oral appeal, but they contacted me yesterday to say they were not taking it further and would be making payment. I would say they would have to pay interest on top of the original award and costs."

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said: "We were refused leave to appeal and we can't appeal any further so now we will have to pay Mr Stansfield."