The barrister, his local cafe and a legal stink over its right to cook

The Royal Teas café, in the Greenwich conservation area, fought a "David and Goliath" battle against council officials after being told it would no longer be allowed to serve cooked food.

With the help of loyal customer Paul Marshall, a barrister, it took its case to the highest court in the land.

Peter Stanway, a planning consultant, also offered his services free. A further 300 customers have written to the council and 1,000 have signed a petition backing the café.

The original complaint is believed to have come from one resident and is related to cooking smells emanating from the 1840 listed building from where the business has operated for 19 years.

Ray Voce, chef and partner in the business, claims typical odours from the café would be no more offensive than cooking aubergine. "We are not talking chips and curry," he said. But the vegetarian coffee shop was defeated in the Appeal Court this week.

It now faces having to abandon its hot-food menu - featuring items such as lemongrass and coconut broth - and could be forced out of business.

Mr Voce said: "There's no justice in this world. All I can say to customers now is, 'What do you want in your sandwich? None of the people who make the decisions have been anywhere near the café. They talk about it as if it was a huge, stinking, horrible place, but it's actually the loveliest place around."

He said it was not clear from the ruling whether he would even be able to serve toast, or a house speciality - beans covered in cheese with Marmite soldiers.

The original complaint against the café led to Greenwich council ruling that Royal Teas no longer complied with its planning permission as a café/tea room, which banned "cook-ing at any time" and needed to fit an extraction system. An inspector decided that allowing cooking at the Royal Teas was unacceptable - in acoustic, visual and odour terms - and would "detract from the living conditions" of nearby residents within a conservation area.

An extraction system was installed but the council ruled at a hearing that it was inadequate.

Mr Voce and his business partner Ondine Francis took their case to the High Court and then the Appeal Court. But Lord Justice Pill, sitting with Lord Justice Keene and Lord Justice Toulson, ruled the council's stance had been fair.

Mr Voce and Ms Francis now face a legal bill of £13,000, including £5,500 for Greenwich's legal costs.

No one at the council was available for comment.

Royal Teas was named the best place in London for a budget afternoon tea in a recent survey, and one of the best 50 places in Britain to have breakfast.