London Max Mosley, the president of motor racing’s governing body, has been allowed to pursue his claim for breach of privacy against the News of the World over its report that he took part in a “Nazi-themed” orgy.

Lawyers for the newspaper had argued that the privacy laws allowed Mr Mosley, son of the 1930s Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, only to ask for compensatory damages, not the “exemplary” damages he is seeking. Mark Warby, QC, for the News of the World, asked Mr Justice Eady to strike out the exemplary damages claim before the High Court trial begins next week. But the judge said that this was an area of developing jurisprudence and a ruling should be made after all the facts in the case had been heard.

James Price, QC, for Mr Mosley, has said that “no reasonable person” could have assumed that there was a Nazi theme to the orgy, said to have taken place in a Chelsea flat and to have involved five women.

However, the newspaper says it was clear that there were Nazi connotations and there was justification in publishing because of Mr Mosley’s public role.

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