Tesco loses European legal battle over jeans

Levi Strauss has won a legal battle with Tesco in the European Court of Justice over the store group's policy of selling cut-price designer goods in the UK.

The decision will be a massive blow to Tesco, which had said it was confident of victory in its long-running jeans war with Levi's.

Tesco has been sourcing designer products from countries outside the EU and re-selling them at knock-down prices.

Levi's legal battle has lasted nearly three years.

Tesco had been seeking the right to buy Levi's jeans from grey market outlets in the US and Far East.

It had said a ruling by the European Court in its favour could have seen the price of Levi's jeans fall to £25.

Yesterday, a Tesco spokesman said that the desirability of Levi's would not be diminished if they were readily available in supermarkets.

He said: "It's ridiculous that Levi's should object if their jeans are on sale in our stores.

"They don't seem to have that problem in the US, where their product is simply sold as a good-quality jean without any claims to be tailor-made."