EAST Lancashire traders are breathing a sigh of relief after a European court decision which has ruled out shoppers in the UK buying cheap alcohol online.

Yesterday European Union judges delivered a decision in a case which could have made it far cheaper to order alcohol on the internet from European countries with low duty rates and have it delivered, than it would be to buy locally.

The move would have seen duty paid on items like whisky and wine in the country where they were bought, rather than paying British taxes. Some European countries charge much less duty.

But today East Lancashire business leaders welcomed the news that the judges had ruled against the move.

Suleman Khonat, Backburn with Darwen councillor and north west spokesman for the National Federation of Retail Newsagents said: "Newsagents and retailers as a whole are really pleased. It's a big relief.

"My gut feeling was that the opposite would happen, so it's a big relief here. It's very important for all the shop traders.

"You cannot under-estimate the effect if these proposals had been passed.

"All our corner shopkeepers and retailers would have been seriously threatened.

It would have been inevitable that shoppers would have been tempted to buy from elsewhere."

Judges from the European Court of Justice ruled that "only products acquired and transported personally by private individuals are exempt from excise duty in the member state of importation."

This will mean "booze cruises" will continue.

If laws had changed, the UK, which already loses more than £1billion a year because of "booze cruises", would have stood to lose even more.

David Grant, managing director of Moorhouses Brewery, Burnley, said if the ruling could have opened a door to people ordering cheap booze for home delivery via the internet.

He added: "It could well have affected us because people might have stayed at home rather than going to the pub."