A GWENT business is celebrating winning a major court battle which has been described in legal circles as the case of "David versus Goliath".

Caerleon-based Beds Direct won their bid to prevent a national company trading under the same name in South Wales.

The Caerleon company is owned by Robert and Margaret Smith, who started the business 20 years ago.

The couple, who are currently on holiday in Spain, spoke on the telephone yesterday of their delight that the fight is over.

Their battle began 15 months ago, when the national Swindon-based company opened a similar business in Cardiff, also using the name Beds Direct.

Mr Smith claimed: "It was a carbon copy of our own business."

The businessman has spent all his working life in the retail bed industry, and said that in 1981 he developed a unique way of "selling top-quality branded beds direct from stock at the keenest prices".

The business has now grown into one of the country's largest independent family retail bed-selling companies.

Mr Smith said: "The legal battle was complex and our opponents, being much larger than us, hired a leading authority in the law of passing off.

"They also engaged a top London legal firm."

The national Beds Direct company did not want to comment on losing the court case.

Robert Peterson, a partner at Petersons Solicitors, Newport, who was advising the Smiths, said: "The case has broken new legal barriers.

"We had to prove to the court three factors, namely that: Beds Direct had a reputation in the trade; that members of the public were confused as to which was which; and that our client suffered financial damage."

The judge, Mr Justice Neuberger, who presided over the week-long trial, took more than a month to complete his 35-page judgment because of the complexity of the case and its importance to both parties.

The judgment was handed down yesterday by Mr Justice Neuberger, sitting in the High Court, London.

Paul Williams, a solicitor at Petersons, said the case was being referred back to the High Court over the holiday period to put in place the final orders and seek costs for the Smiths.

Legal costs are expected to exceed £500,000.