Neil Hamilton's call for a re-run of the Tatton constituency election - won by the Independent MP Martin Bell last year - looks unlikely to go ahead.

Under the Representation of the People Act, the rules say that the result cannot be declared "void" or "challenged" because the time limit for such a challenge has elapsed.

An expert on electoral law, Joe Jacob, said that he thought it was highly unlikely that a re-run would take place. He believed that Mr Bell was being "unjustly" targeted.

He said: "At the end of the day, I'd be gob-smacked if the election court was to find he had done anything wrong.

"It would seem to me that this (the £9,,00 bill) was an expense that seemed to have something to do with the election but if taking legal advice is to be deemed to be an election expense it would be perfectly possible to stop any candidate from standing in any election and that doesn't seem to me what the election court will be looking at."

Under the Representation of the People Act, Parliamentary candidates must declare all election expenses and their expenditure is limited by statute.

In the case of Mr Bell, he declared his personal election expenses of £9,389 - right down to £1 for the loan of a heater to keep an election meeting warm - but did not declare the legal bill.

During his speech on Friday, Mr Bell called for the rules governing election expenses to be simplified to make it easier for candidates who were not backed by party machines to fight for seats.

Mr Bell said: "If it's classified as campaign expenses then I would not have been able to mount a campaign. I wouldn't have been able to print a leaflet."

Mr Jacob echoed his concerns: "I am concerned with the notion that somehow taking legal advice can be charged up to the election. This is very important because there are very strict and low limits on what individual candidates can spend at an election - hardly more than £10,000 per constituency.

"So if taking legal advice becomes an election expense the candidate can't print a single poster, he can't rent any offices or run a campaign. That would seem to me be absurd."
 

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