A cosmetics giant has successfully sued a Bradford family firm for importing its goods and selling them at cut price.

Husband and wife-run Multibrands International was taken to Court by PZ Cussons Ltd for selling Imperial Leather soap manufactured for the Indonesian market to UK discount stores.

The firm - which was ordered to hand over 230,000 bars of the imported soap and pay up to £100,000 in costs by a judge at the Leeds District Registry of the High Court - now faces ruin as it is also being threatened with a huge claim for damages.

The practice - known as "parallel importing" - is regarded as illegal if it involves bringing in products from outside the European Union without the consent of the manufacturer. Supermarket giant Tesco was in a similar legal battle with clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co when it tried to import jeans to sell at discount prices.

Today the Consumers' Association criticised the ruling and called for a change in the law which could lower prices in the UK and end the "rip-off Britain" culture.

"It effectively allows firms to sell goods differently wherever they like and it tends to mean that UK customers pay higher prices," a spokesman said.

"We think that the European Union needs to take very strong action to change these rules. At the moment, it makes customers feel as though they are being ripped off."

But Cussons, which owns the Imperial Leather brand name, claimed the court's decision was "an important victory" for its business and its customers.

Multibrands owners Rizwana and Imran Hussain fear they could lose their home after the court found them personally guilty of trademark infringement and 'passing-off'.

The couple, who have built-up Multibrands in Jowett Street, Bradford, over the past seven years, bought the soap in bulk from a large trade outlet in Indonesia for as little as six pence per bar and sold it on in the UK.

The price of a bar of Imperial Leather is usually about 45p.

The couple, both 26, who have three young children, said they were dismayed by the court's decision.

Mrs Hussain said: "Cussons has not just gone after the company, but after us personally. We couldn't defend ourselves. We are really struggling to survive."

A spokesman for Cussons rejected accusations that the firm, which last year made a £48 million profit, sold its product at inflated prices in the UK.

She said the soap for the Indonesian market was "totally different" to that on offer in the UK because it was more heavily scented and there were other differences in its chemical make-up, but these were "too complicated" to explain.

"The practice of parallel importing can have a damaging effect on a brand's reputation and business performance," she said. "We hope this ruling will serve as a clear warning to all parallel importers and customers."

Cussons said it was alerted to the imported product after some customers complained about its performance.

The firm said it had contacted Multibrands to warn it of the impending action and received promises it had stopped importing.

Cussons' solicitors then obtained a court order to search the Jowett Street premises, where 230,000 bars of soap were seized.

"Cussons have acted fairly and reasonably at all times. We gave the company a number of opportunities to stop the illegal importing without legal action," said its spokesman.

"Unfortunately, as the Judge recognised in his ruling, Multibrands repeatedly gave us false information and, in the end, we had to resort to legal action."

Multibrands' core business had been importing bargain-priced goods such as toiletries, foodstuffs and even cars from outside the EU.

The firm, which employed 14 full-time staff and had a turnover of £7 million, has now abandoned parallel importing and is attempting to develop its own brand products to survive.