A EUROPEAN court will decide the fate of a feta cheese produced in North Yorkshire.
Shepherd's Purse Cheeses, near Thirsk, was banned from marketing its cheese as feta by a EU directive in 2002.
The ban was imposed after the Greek Government persuaded the EU Commission to register feta as exclusively Greek by arguing that grasses on the country's mountains gave their cheese a special flavour.
However, the Danish and German Governments will attempt to overturn the directive in Luxembourg tomorrow on behalf of their own cheese producers.
If successful, the Thirsk firm will also be free to market their product as feta.
Yorkshire MEP Edward McMillan-Scott is backing Shepherd's Purse, saying the company's cheese tastes identical to the Greek version.
Mr McMillan-Scott criticised the British Government for refusing to appoint a lawyer to represent the firm.
He said: "It is extraordinary that the British Government, which spends billions on farm subsidies, will not spend a few hundred pounds on sending a lawyer to defend a small but important producer."
The court case will mark the latest chapter in the firm's six-year battle with the EU.
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