WILTSHIRE County Council will have to find thousands of pounds to pay a developer who compensated residents in Cepen Park whose homes were blighted by the Chippenham western bypass, a High Court judge has ruled.

Nearly £80,000 was paid out to residents between 2000 and 2002 by the county council, and developer Crest Estates Limited paid out an additional £23,000 but each side believed the other was liable for all the claims.

The county council had been hoping to pass the buck to Crest Estates Limited and Crest Nicholson Residential Limited, who built part of the bypass.

The house builders did so in return for being granted planning permission for a number of houses near the by-pass, which was designed to relieve Chippenham of heavy through traffic.

Paul Calcutt, group land director for Crest Nicholson, explained that when it built sections of the bypass for the county council initially the pieces of road were not joined up and functioned only as grand estate roads for people accessing Cepen Park North.

Once the entire section was complete and heavy traffic began to use the new bypass, people began to lodge claims.

Lawyers for the county council argued that a clause in an agreement said the house builders would have to pay for any compensation claims resulting from the bypass.

Residents sought pay-outs for the day-to-day disruption of their lives caused by the presence of the bypass, and the county council did agree they were entitled to compensation.

But it said that, because of the clause, the housing developers should find the cash. Crest argued the clause related only to disruption caused while the bypass was being built and any long-term nuisance should be paid by the county council.

Last Friday Judge Iain Hughes, sitting at London's High Court, ruled in the developer's favour. He said there were no "express words" in the agreement which put the liability on the two Crest companies, and he would have expected such, given the "significant potential" of the claims.

"In order to save money the council makes house builders construct the by-pass as a quid pro quo for the grant of planning permission.

"The council adopts the bypass. Some householders then claim compensation from the council, and the council demands the builder repays that compensation.

"In effect the house builder is required to refund part of the selling price of the property it obtained back to the householder because of the use of a bypass it had no choice but to build."

Crest Nicholson now want the county council to repay the £23,645.75 it paid to residents in compensation.

The county council is taking advice on lodging an appeal against the ruling.