A fire service has lost its appeal against a court ruling which blamed it for the deaths of two men killed in a fireworks blast seven years ago.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service faces a multimillion pound payout after a High Court judge ruled in July that the deaths of Brian Wembridge and Geoff Wicker were preventable.

The two veteran firefighters were killed in a massive explosion at Marlie Farm near Lewes in 2006.

Lawyers acting for the fire service’s insurer Zurich applied for permission to appeal the ruling in the hope it could be overturned.

But on Wednesday Lord Justice Irwin dismissed the application meaning the families are now free to pursue ESFRS for compensation.

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East Sussex FBU Brigade Secretary, Mark Brown, said: “Any further appeal by ESFRS would not only prolong the pain and suffering for those injured and the families of the bereaved, it would also completely undermine any claim by ESFRS that they care for the wellbeing of their employees.”

At the close of the original ten-day High Court hearing, the judge ruled there was “inadequate training provision”, and that very few of the 50 firemen scrambled to Marlie Farm were warned fireworks could be so volatile.

A spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: “We recognise that it is a very difficult time for those involved in the |Marlie Farm fire and fatal explosion. Our position has not changed.

“We have previously expressed our desire to see the legal action surrounding the issue of compensation resolved as soon as possible.

“We were hopeful that a meeting involving all parties would take place in order to achieve this.

“The decision to appeal against July’s High Court ruling was made by our insurers and we are bound by that decision.

“At the time of the incident, our Chief Fire Officer Des Prichard pledged to find out what went wrong and take action.

“We have carried out our own investigation and brought in changes to the way we deal with these sorts of fires.”