Motorists who try to get their Parking tickets quashed because they were given out by hatless traffic wardens may not be refunded after all.

When challenged by Eddie Mitchell, a photographer at The Argus, Brighton and Hove City Council officials said they thought an old bylaw existed saying tickets issued by attendants not wearing hats were invalid.

But after a detailed check of the rules, the council now says a definitive decision requires a test case before the National Parking Adjudication Service.

Mr Mitchell was annoyed when he was given a £60 parking ticket while parked on double-yellow lines on Brighton seafront.

When he was told the ticket may be invalid because the attendant was not wearing a hat, he looked into the matter further and was told all attendants must wear hats.

The possibility he had discovered hundreds of dud tickets may have been issued by hatless wardens made him a media star.

As well as TV appearances, he was interviewed by 12 radio stations.

Since admitting the gaffe, the council has trawled through the archives and said it cannot find statutory proof that a rule about the wearing of hats existed.

A council spokeswoman said: "Any rule about wearing of hats by parking attendants must have applied to parking wardens rather than traffic wardens. As yet we cannot find this rule.

"It cannot have applied to the new parking attendants as they have only been working for us for a year.

"Our rules state an attendant has to be in uniform when issuing a ticket. Part of that uniform includes wearing a hat.

"It would be difficult for a parking attendant to issue a ticket while carrying their hat under their arm as they have to hold their machine with one hand and input data with the other."

The council took advice from the National Parking Adjudication Service, which the council must subscribe to as it runs its own parking enforcement scheme.

Andrew Pulham, of NPAS, said: "So far there has been no case referred to us since we were set up in 1994, which has involved whether or not the parking attendant was wearing a hat. It is an untried and untested area."

Mr Mitchell is now considering whether to appeal to the adjudication service to get a definitive answer as to whether a ticket issued by a hatless warden is valid.