A FAMILY firm of cheesemakers fighting with the Greeks over the right to call their product feta has suffered a legal setback.

A top advisor to judges in the European Court of Justice has declared only cheese made in Greece should be allowed to use the name feta.

The announcement is a blow to Shepherd's Purse Cheese, of Newsham, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

The company is anxiously awaiting the result of the courtroom tussle in which Denmark and Germany are challenging the European Commission's controversial 2002 decision to prevent other countries using the feta name for cheeses.

Judy Bell, who started the company from her kitchen table 18 years ago, said her Yorkshire Feta accounted for about 15 per cent of her firm's business.

"I've never been confident they would find in our favour, but I did think they may have used a little bit of common sense," she said.

"To hijack the word feta is totally wrong - it doesn't belong to Greece.

"We will have to go through a massive re-merchandising process and reorganisation.

"Unlike other manufacturers who use cow's milk, our cheese is true feta, made with 100 per cent ewe's milk."

Under the Protected Designation of Origin laws, the European Commission has also registered Parma ham, French Champagne and at least 25 British products, including Shetland lamb, Whitstable oysters and Newcastle Brown Ale.

However, Yorkshire pudding is deemed to be a generic term and does not have to be made in Yorkshire to qualify to use the name.

The commission's advocate general said feta was not a generic term, but a traditional name deserving of protection under EU rules.

He said: "Feta meets the requirements of a designation of origin in that it describes a cheese originating from a substantial part of Greece, whose characteristics derive from its geographical environment."

Feta is believed to have been made in Greece for 6,000 years. Today, the country produces about 115,000 tonnes, mainly for domestic consumption.

A final legal ruling is expected later this year.

If the court finds in favour of Greece, a ban on other countries using the name feta would come into force in 2007.