Jonathan and Jamie Irving have been awarded nearly £9,000 costs in their long-running legal dispute with their former lawyer.

The Irvings are appealing against a court ruling last month that disqualified them from acting as company directors.

That disqualification relates to their Street Heritage Limited company, which was wound up by court order in February 2010 over non-payment of tax debts totalling £182,929.

Separately, the Irvings have been pursuing a negligence claim against their former lawyer.

In a High Court judgment last year, Deemster Andrew Corlett ruled that Street Heritage’s advocate Jerry Carter had been negligent by not turning up in time for the winding up hearing.

Mr Carter didn’t immediately ask the court to reconvene to seek a 28-day adjournment with the aim of the debt being settled.

Deemster Corlett found that Carters were negligent in failing to seek the agreed adjournment, breaching their duties of care to Street Heritage Ltd and to the Irvings personally.

He also decided that there was no contributory fault on the part of the Irvings.

An appeal by Mr Carter and his firm Carters Advocates was dismissed as misconceived last month.

Carters applied for there to be no order as to costs.

But the Irvings sought an order that Carters pay their costs relating to the appeal.

They claimed a total, including VAT, of £8,966, based on their time as litigants in person at £10 per hour and a fixed fee for English counsel of £5,000 for the hearing, with her other time at £175 per hour, plus disbursements of £718.

Judge of Appeal Storey QC and Deemster Rosen QC ruled there was no reason to depart from the usual starting principle that the unsuccessful party is ordered to pay the costs of the successful party.

’Given that the appellant was wholly unsuccessful in his appeal, we are satisfied that in this case it is appropriate that we should make an order for costs

They described Carters’ appeal as having been ’doomed to fail’ and ’completely unmeritorious’.

Moreover, they found, the appeal caused delay and costs to the Irvings and there is a real suspicion that the appeal was tactical.

The appeal court ruled that Carters will pay Irvings the sum of £8,966.

Disqualification hearings against the Irvings were brought by the Financial Services Authority which identified seven areas of major concern - including allowing SHL to trade while insolvent.

The Irvings lodged an appeal against what they branded a ’miscarriage of justice’.