A COUPLE who challenged their ban from keeping dogs may now have to sell their home to pay for the case, it has emerged.

Frank and Hazel Hill were partially successful in their appeal - but have been left with a hefty costs bill of £12,000.

Inspectors from the RSPCA went to the home of the dachshund breeders in February 2013, and took away 31 dogs.

They were later banned from keeping pets for five years after magistrates found them guilty of causing unnecessary suffering.

Three of the convictions were upheld, and three were quashed following a 15-day appeal at the crown court last month.

Today, a judge at Teesside Crown Court ruled the couple, from Spennymoor, County Durham, should pay a contribution to the RSPCA's £30,000 legal costs.

Their barrister argued that the award should be no more than several hundred pounds.

And there was a dispute over how much equity there is in the couple's three-bedroomed detached home, Park Hill Lodge.

Sara-Lise Howe, defending, said the property was worth between £50,000 and £100,000 only because it was at risk of flooding.

She argued that because the Hills had half of their convictions overturned, the costs against them should be limited.

Miss Howe said any award above the £500 fine imposed by magistrates in the original case would be "unfair and disproportionate".

"It should not be that someone has to sell their house to pay court fines or costs," she told the judge, Recorder Abdul Iqbal, QC.

The judge ruled that the couple would have been "acutely aware" of the financial implications of challenging the convictions.

He said: "It is just and reasonable in all the circumstances of this case to expect the appellants to pay a fair proportion," he said.

"The fact they have a considerable asset is a highly relevant factor . . .

Mr Hill, 62, and his 70-year-old disabled wife have until the beginning of April next year to pay £6,000 each towards the costs.

Paul Abrahams, for the RSPCA, said an independent valuation put the property - with its "significant" land - at £225,000.