THE High Court has rejected St Albans council’s bid for a Judicial Review into the rail freight depot plan for Park Street.

The challenge had related to the decision by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles not to proceed with a conjoined inquiry into the proposed Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) on the former Radlett Airfield and a similar scheme for Colnbrook in Slough.

Instead Mr Pickles said in December that he was “minded” to approve the scheme from developers Helioslough subject to planning conditions.

Helioslough have been pushing Mr Pickles for an immediate decision and are also seeking a Judicial Review in a bid to expedite the decision.

St Albans council has been ordered to pay costs of £2,000 to the Secretary of State and will be consulting its legal advisors before deciding on any other course of action.