PIE-MAKER Alex Joll has been given a huge boost in his legal battle against a rival after a law firm offered to fight his case for free.

Eat Square in Bradford on Avon is in an ongoing legal battle with London business Square Pie, which could result in a bill of £10,000, over not dropping the word square from the name of his product.

The matter attracted widespread media attention and has now resulted in a law firm, Trade Mark Wizards, offering to defend Mr Joll, completely free of charge.

“I am very thankful for their support and hopefully this can all go away and I can get back to selling pies and continue to grow,” said Mr Joll.

“They told me they hope to put some pressure on Square Pie and maybe stop them with this whole case. At the moment I should hear back in January but it could take three to six months.”

Oliver Oguz, the company’s director and trademark lawyer said: “When we saw the news about this, we were keen to help. This story stood out as being particularly unfair. It isn’t right when people with limited funds are getting bullied in this manner.”

“After reviewing this matter internally, we decided to help Mr Joll and give him the representation and help that he deserves.”

Mr Joll, who won an Entrepreneurial Spark award in Bristol this year, now has more reason to celebrate after reaching an agreement with Budgens to sell his pies in their stores.

“It is fantastic news and it is great for the prestige of the brand,” said Mr Joll. “It has been slow going at times but Mark the manager (of Budgens in Bradford on Avon) was impressed with my pies and after getting approval from head office, here we are.”

“Hopefully this can kick-start the brand and help us branch into wholesale more and get the exposure that we need.”

Eat Square began in October 2014 and after a steady start Mr Joll is aiming squarely on bigger and better things to come.

“I want to become the discerning pie of choice across Wiltshire – an alternative to Pukka Pies,” he said.

“They made £60m from making pies last year and although I can’t hope to get anywhere near that, it would be good to get into fish and chip shops and I hope that this deal has got the ball rolling.”