The owner of a Maidstone bar faces up to two years fighting a legal test case over the rights to show Premier League football matches.

Sanjay Raval, who owns Earls in Earl Street, Maidstone, and five bars in Medway, is one of several publicans involved in a case brought by the Premier League.

The manager of Earls, Dave Greenslade, had also had action brought against him but it was later dropped.

A judge at the High Court has now ruled the case will have to go to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The Premier League is suing several publicans and importers for importing and using satellite decoder cards, obtained in other countries, claiming it is contrary to copyright.

The cards give access to satellite broadcasts transmitted from the country concerned, and using them means pub owners are able to bypass licences to show the matches, from BSkyB, the Premier League’s official supplier in the UK.

Mr Raval, 41, sole director of SR Leisure Ltd, said he was approached by a UK company offering the equipment at a rate that would save him thousands of pounds a year.

He said: “I looked the company up and it was a limited company, registered in the UK with Companies House.”

Mr Raval, who lives in Rochester, found out he was being sued when a solicitor’s letter arrived about two years ago.

He said: “It has been a very worrying time.”

A Premier League spokesman said: “Our stance on the illegal supply and use of foreign satellite equipment has been unequivocal.

“We relish the opportunity for a definitive ruling at the highest possible level in order to end the confusion.”