A BREWER has warned he could be forced out of business if a rival brewery wins a High Court “War Of The Roses” case.

Phil Lee, boss of Cropton Brewery near Pickering, said the cost of fighting and losing a case against Tadcaster brewery Samuel Smith’s could come to hundreds of thousands of pounds and lead to his bankruptcy.

The Press revealed earlier this week how Cropton’s fundraising drive for wounded servicemen was in jeopardy after Samuel Smith's launched legal action over its use of Yorkshire’s white rose on the labels of Yorkshire Warrior beer.

The profits from sales of the beer go to the benevolent fund of the Yorkshire Regiment, which gave permission for its emblem – featuring a lion carrying the standard of St George above a white rose – to be used on labels and pump clips. The Tadcaster brewery has claimed that Cropton’s rose is confusingly similar to the one it has used as its trademark since the 1960s, and is a trademark infringement.

Cropton is disputing the claim and Mr Lee yesterday urged Samuel Smith’s to drop the case, pay Cropton’s costs and make a sizeable donation to the Yorkshire Regiment. Meanwhile, it has emerged that Samuel Smith's has taken legal action against a second brewery over its use of the Yorkshire rose.

Eddy Munnelly, a director of Sheffield Brewery Company, confirmed yesterday that it used to have a stainless steel-coloured version of the rose in its symbol on pump clips in recognition of the city’s steel industry.

He said it had received a letter from solicitors for Samuel Smith’s, claiming the rose infringed its trademark. He said that after negotiation, his brewery had agreed to remove the rose from the symbol, with the Tadcaster firm helping to meet the costs of the change.

A Samuel Smith’s spokesman, who declined to comment last week on the roses case, was unavailable for comment yesterday.