THE full costs of a ‘war of the roses’ High Court battle between two North Yorkshire breweries have been revealed.

Cropton Brewery, from near Pickering, said it had been left ‘many, many tens of thousands of pounds’ out of pocket in meeting its own legal costs, following its trademark dispute with Samuel Smith’s over its use of Yorkshire’s white rose on beer bottles.

But spokesman Andy Davidson said the Tadcaster brewery had also had to foot a bill of more than half a million pounds for its own costs, after it had unsuccessfully applied to the courts for Cropton to pay them.

The dispute over the use of the white rose on branding, which went to the High Court in London in July, focussed on Cropton’s use of the Yorkshire Regiment's cap badge on bottle labels and pump clips for its Yorkshire Warrior beer.

Cropton said it had raised about £20,000 through the beer for the regiment's benevolent fund, which helps seriously wounded soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

But Samuel Smith’s claimed the white rose ‘device’ on the cap badge breached the trademark of a rose device it had been using for the past 40 years.

At the end of the case, the judge declared their battle a ‘score draw’ and criticised the ‘proud, independent Yorkshire breweries breweries’, saying they should have resolved their dispute themselves long before.

Mr Davidson said the Warrior beer was to go back on sale later this month or next month, and a new label was currently being created for it which would comply with the judge’s ruling that Cropton should not use the white rose design.

He said the white rose would not be featured on the front, although the cap badge would be used small on the label on the back of the bottle.

He added that Cropton had sent £4,000 to Samuel Smith’s lawyers after being ordered to pay over any profits which had been made through the sale of the beer. Samuel Smith’s, which indicated to the court this money would be donated to the Help for Heroes charity, declined to comment to The Press.