Lawyers representing a man from Northern Ireland who sued a bakery for refusing to make a cake with pro-gay marriage message are going to Europe to challenge a supreme court ruling that its evangelical Christian owners had a right to refuse to fulfill the order.

Belfast human rights law firm Phoenix Law confirmed on Thursday it had been instructed by Gareth Lee to take his case to the European court of human rights (ECHR).

Mr Lee was told by Ashers bakery in 2014 that it would not make a cake with the message “Support Gay Marriage” on it because it was contrary to the owners’ religious beliefs.

Five judges on the UK supreme court found that the bakery did not refuse Mr Lee’s order because of his sexual orientation. They ruled therefore that there was no discrimination on those grounds.

This time, Ashers will not be implicated as the case is being taken against the United Kingdom instead.