Thousands of parking offenders issued with tickets in the first half of this year could get away without paying a fine because of a loophole in the law.

In Magistrates' Court yesterday about 30 offenders, each facing a $80 fine for non-payment of parking tickets, walked out without having to pay after it was revealed that, because the tickets were more than six months old, they were no longer valid. All offenders in court yesterday had been served with tickets last November.

Magistrate Edward King, after consulting law books, agreed that he had no choice but to dismiss all defendants on the grounds that their tickets had expired.

Yesterday the court's administrative officer Tracey Kelly confirmed that there was currently a delay in getting court summons' sent out to offenders.

And he said that, if the time limit ruling was upheld, all tickets issued up until June of this year could become void.

"We do have a backlog in getting these notices out,'' Mr. Kelly said.

"The problem is we had a new computerised system installed earlier in the year and that has caused a delay. It has made the system a lot better and it means that we can now access TCD but it also means we have some catching up to do.

"The court doesn't prosecute people but we are responsible for sending out notices. At the moment we are sending out notices for parking tickets issued in January. If the law is sustained then it's going to be difficult to prosecute.

"But I'm not sure if it's that clear. It's a question of how the law is interpreted and another magistrate might see things in a different light and still decide to bring the prosecution. It all depends on how you define when the prosecution was first started.

"But if it is upheld we are talking about losing a considerable amount of money.'' When told by The Royal Gazette about the shock decision last night Senior Magistrate Will Francis promised to look into the matter.

"I am surprised by the decision but, seeing as this has never happened before, I cannot really comment on today's court proceedings,'' he said.

"But as a result of what you have said I will be looking into the matter very carefully and I'm sure the police will do the same.''