Meat, fish, fruit and vegetables can continue to be sold in pounds and ounces in Britain indefinitely, after a U-turn by the European Commission.

The decision, disclosed in a letter made public last night, also means that fabrics, carpets and timber and other building materials can be sold in yards, feet or inches. Road signs can remain in miles per hour.

The move delighted consumers and shopkeepers after a campaign by the Metric Martyrs that had been backed by the Conservative Party and the British Weights and Measures Association.

The British Retail Consortium and other organisations representing butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers and market traders had also lobbied hard to save imperial measures.The campaigners scented victory after saving the crown on a pint glass this year.

Their instincts were confirmed by Günther Verheugen, the Industry Commissioner, who agreed that dual marking of goods in Britain in imperial and metric measures can continue indefinitely.

Brussels has insisted previously that the traditional British weights and measures should disappear from labels and shop counters by 2009.

Business lobbyists said that keeping pounds and ounces made it easier for British companies to sell to the United States. Mr Verheugen, who is German, informed Giles Chichester, MEP, the Tory industry spokesman at the European Parliament, about the change. He will publish a formal amendment this year.

The Commissioner’s spokeswoman said: “His intention is to propose that in simple terms the use of supplementary indications would be granted an indefinite extension.”

The decision prompted calls for a posthumous pardon for the original metric martyr, Steve Thoburn, a greengrocer who was prosecuted for selling goods in pounds and ounces.

Six years ago he was convicted by Sunderland magistrates of selling produce on scales that could not weigh in metric measures. He died three years ago, days after learning that his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights had been lost.

Neil Herron, a former fishmonger and campaigns director for Metric Martyrs, said: “This is a monumental victory . . . . We have saved the pint, the mile, the yard and the foot as well as pounds and ounces.

“All that remains now for the campaign is to insist on a royal pardon to quash the criminal conviction that Steve took with him to his grave.”

Mr Herron said that the prosecution should never have taken place, adding that the name of Mr Thoburn would be “chiselled into the pages of the history books”.

He said: “The public had never wanted or asked for imperial measures to be abolished and no political party had ever put it in their manifesto that they intended to criminalise the use of imperial measures.”

Mr Chichester claimed credit for the latest decision, saying: “After saving the crown on the British pint, I am happy that the Conservatives have persuaded the Commission that it is good, not only for international business but for the British people, that traditional measurements are kept.

“I just hope there won’t be any more need for Metric Martys and that the Government will avoid forcing metrication down the public’s throat.”

David Delaney, of the British Weights and Measures Association, said: “We have campaigned for 25 years to ensure choice in measures and faced many defeats.”

A recent association survey found that 80 per cent of people preferred imperial measurements. Some 70 per cent, including most 18 to 24-year-olds, can make sense of weights only in pounds and ounces.