metric martyr vows to fight on despite new setback THE latest "metric martyr" battle will go on despite another defeat in court, a Sunderland trader has vowed. Park Lane trader Neil Herron was in Surrey this week helping defend fellow trader Peter Collins in his court battle. Like Mr Herron's friend and fellow Sunderland trader Steven Thoburn, Collins, 51, of Sutton, was being taken to court by his local council over imperial measures. He lost his case yesterday at Sutton Magistrates Court, aimed at lifting a condition on his licence compelling him to sell his goods in metric measurements. Costs of �13,000 were awarded to the council, which vowed to enforce payment. After the ruling, Mr Collins, who has traded from the stall in Sutton High Street for 15 years, said that it was "very probable" that he would appeal. Reacting to the case, Mr Herron said: "We have to make sure we now raise enough money to take this to the next highest court, which is the Appeal Court in London." And he said the next few months would see him step up the publicity campaign to raise money for the fund. "We're going to begin the attack by highlighting how these regulations were passed by politicians who just nodded them through," said Mr Herron. "Removing a system of measures which have been in place for hundreds of years like this is not democracy." In April, Mr Thoburn, 36, who runs a stall at Southwick Market, became the first trader in Britain to be convicted for refusing to sell goods in metric measurements. He is to appeal to the High Court, backed by a �195,000 fighting fund from campaigners who do not want to see imperial scrapped. The fund aims to cover Mr Thoburn and other traders bringing legal action. Chris
