Ice cream boss Sean Kempin has won the right to an appeal hearing that could be seen as a test case.

It started when Brighton and Hove Council changed its licensing rules for ice cream vans, a move Mr Kempin says would cost him almost £7,000.

After a three-year battle, a High Court judge has now ruled that Mr Kempin can appeal against the council's decision to change his classification from roundsman to street trader.

Mr Kempin, who owns British Bulldog Ice Creams, operates seven vans and employs seven roundsmen from his base in Gardner Road, Portslade.

The council ruled in 1997 that street traders in Brighton and Hove needed consent to sell goods from their pitches.

Mr Kempin said it would cost almost £7,000 to licence his vans on top of already high running costs.

He argued that because the ice-cream vans were mobile they were not in one place long enough to be considered a street pitch.

Council bosses maintained that under the Local Government Act he is a street trader and not a roundsman because he does not deliver to the doorstep.

After the High Court hearing, Mr Kempin said: "There are no precedents in law.

"This is a test case that could affect every ice cream roundsman in the country."

British Bulldog is the last remaining ice cream seller with rounds on housing estates on the edges of Brighton and Hove.

A council spokesman said: "I can't comment on the specifics of this case because it still has to be heard."