Some mink farmers received just 30% of the value of their stock

A judge ruled at the High Court on Thursday the �5m compensation they were originally offered violated their human rights.

Mr Justice Stanley Burnton struck down the entire compensation scheme, which he said had "no justification" and was "irrational".

The National Farmers Union (NFU), which backed the case, said it would now seek between up to �15m from the government.

The farmers were the only remaining mink farmers in the UK when the trade was banned by the Fur Farming Prohibition Act.

They had originally been offered between �100,000 and �1.4m in compensation.

It has been a long hard battle, but we are obviously delighted that our persistence has paid off Alex Megaw, farmers' solicitor

Their lawyers told the judge the method of calculating compensation meant some, particularly those with rarer breeds of mink, received only 30% of the value of their stock while others received more than 70%.

Mr Justice Burnton agreed there were serious anomalies in the calculation used to work out how much the stock was worth.

He accepted the farmers' argument their right to respect for their private property, as defined by the Human Rights Convention, had been breached.

He branded the compensation scheme "so flawed as to be irrational and unfair".

The claimants' solicitor, Alex Megaw, said: "It has been a long hard battle, but we are obviously delighted that our persistence has paid off."

'Accept defeat'

Barney Holbeche, of the NFU, said: "There is a chance the government will appeal against this ruling.

"But we hope they will see sense and accept this defeat and come up with a compensation scheme that is fair."

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be responsible for reassessing the compensation scheme.

The former mink farmers are: Len Kelsall, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire; Ken Shynn, of Isle of Wight; Terry Cartmell, of Whittingham, Lancashire; Michael Cobbledick, of Bude, Cornwall; John Duxbury, of Preston, Lancashire; Peter Harrison, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; TT Smith, of West Stapehill, Dorset; Robert Millis, of Doncaster; Tony Coupe, of Preston and Dan Sawrij, of Halifax, West Yorkshire.