SHOPPERS will still be able to buy fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces for another ten years, after an imperial stay-of-execution came into force yesterday.

Imperial measurements were due to disappear from shops under proposals to bring the UK in line with the rest of the European Union in the use of metric weights.

Now, shops will be able to display imperial weights alongside the metric equivalents until at least 2009.

However, the move will not affect the case of Sunderland market trader Steven Thoburn, being prosecuted for using imperial-only scales.

Mr Thoburn, due to return to court on March 1 when legal teams will put their closing arguments before a ruling expected on April 9, declined to comment yesterday.

A Sunderland City Council spokeswoman said: "It will have no bearing on the case, which is about having scales which only sell in imperial.

"The law says you can continue to display prices in imperial, as long as they are supplementary to the metric prices."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Trade and Industry said imperial measurements had been due to disappear from shops at the end of 1999.

But an extension negotiated by the Government, which came into force yesterday, meant this would not happen until 2009 at the earliest.

She said the Government could then apply for another extension, depending on how many people were still using imperial measurements.

She said: "This is about traders being able to continue to display imperial weights for a further ten years.

"Traders are obliged by law to use metric and display in metric, but they are also able to display prices in imperial.

"They can use scales that do both, but they cannot use just imperial scales."

Mr Thoburn, a 36-year-old father of two, was the first trader to have his imperial-only scales confiscated last year.

His legal team has argued that an EU regulation intended to make the UK comply with metrification directives cannot override an Act of Parliament, which gave traders the legal right to use imperial scales.

If he wins, it could prompt claims from shopkeepers who have paid for metric-weighing equipment