Hampshire County Council is launching an appeal against a High Court judgment in favour of a stallholder banned from a farmers' market.

A top judge ruled that fish farmer, Graham Beer, was treated "manifestly unfairly".

Mr Justice Field said Hampshire Farmers' Market Ltd - a company set up by the county council - had "breached rules of natural justice" in reaching a decision which threatened Mr Beer's livelihood.

He said one of the main reasons why Mr Beer had been barred last year was the fact that he was chairman of a weekday farmers' market association, the Southern Farmers' Market Association, which HFM saw as a rival.

Now the county council has lodged an appeal against the judgment of last November.

The local authority will challenge whether Hampshire Farmers' Market, as a private company, is subject to judicial review.

The county council passed management of its successful weekend farmers' markets - including Winchester - to HMF in 2001.

A county council spokesman said: "The judgment has significant implications. As it stands, any company which is set up under Section 2 of the Local Authority Act 2000 could be subject to judicial review - even if it has become a wholly private, independent company - because of its public past."

She said it was too early to predict the cost to council taxpayers of launching the appeal.

But the earlier hearing cost Mr Beer £20,000 which the county council and HFM were ordered to pay.

If the appeal is successful, then the order for costs at the judicial review will be overturned. If not, the bill could double.

Mr Beer, a stalwart of the farmers' markets since they were set up in 1999, now has his stall back after the judge overturned HFM's decision to bar him.

Owner of Hammer Trout Farm at Liphook, he said he was "not surprised" the county council was appealing because it was a landmark case potentially affecting councils across the country.

He said: "If a county council wanted to offload its responsibilities, all it would have to do is form a limited company and, if anything went wrong, claim it was nothing to do with them. But the judge said you can't do that."

Mr Beer said fighting the appeal would be expensive and he is hoping the National Farmers' Union will help pay his legal bills.

"It is a David and Goliath battle. I am just a small guy against Hampshire County Council, which has very deep pockets."

In November, the judge rejected the argument that, as a private company, HFM, could not be subjected to judicial review.

He said the company had maintained its close links with the county council and was still effectively holding public markets on local authority-owned sites.