High Court judge Mr Justice Allen has ruled that Lidl must pay the IFA’s legal costs after taking them to court after alleging that adverts placed in national newspapers were defamatory.

The adverts said that Lidl was misleading consumers by using the name of fake creameries and it was designed to drive down the price paid to dairy farmers.

The adverts were published in March and a subsequent legal battle between the IFA and Lidl Gmbh ensued.

A fortnight ago, the court rejected Lidl’s application for an order prohibiting republication. This was pending a full hearing of the defamation claim which will be heard before a jury.

However, Mr Justice Allen ruled on Friday 18 June that the statutory threshold for granting the injunction sought under the Defamation Act 2009 had not been met by Lidl.

As a result, he ruled that Lidl would have to pay the IFA’s legal costs for the injunction.