A prominent animal rights campaigner has won a landmark ruling that his beliefs should be protected from discrimination at work in the same way as religion.

Joe Hashman, 42, claimed he was sacked as a designer from a garden centre when his bosses realised he was a hunt saboteur.

In a decision that is expected to open the floodgates to similar claims, a judge ruled his anti-hunting views were a 'philosophical belief' under employment law.

The veteran campaigner and newspaper columnist claimed he was axed a day after his covert footage helped to convict celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright of attending an illegal hare coursing event.

He took his employers Ron and Sheila Clarke to an employment tribunal seeking £50,000 in damages.

The couple, owners of the Orchard Park Garden Centre in Gillingham, Dorset, are active in the South and West Wiltshire Hunt.

Yesterday Judge Lawrence Guyer backed Mr Hashman, a married father of two.

He said the activist's 'deeply held' beliefs about the environment, animal rights, veganism and opposition to hunting should be protected under 2003 rules on religious equality at work.

"Mr Hashman believes that people should live their lives with mindful respect for animals and we all have a moral obligation to live in a way which is kind to each other, our environment and our fellow creatures," said Judge Guyer.

"I have no hesitation in finding that he thinks very deeply about the issues arising from his beliefs and that he attempts to live his life in accord with those beliefs. I find that his beliefs are truly part of his philosophical beliefs."

After the landmark judgment, Mr Hashman said: "I feel vindicated and am proud to have pursued this action."

His solicitor, Shah Quereshi, said: "The decision widens anti-discrimination laws to give protection to swathes of animal rights campaigners."

But experts warned the decision would add to the pressure on the tribunal service.

Employment lawyer Gordon Turner said: "If you keep extending the genre of activities which is protected by law, the number of beliefs is infinite."

After yesterday's preliminary ruling in Southampton, a full hearing will be held later this year to decide if Mr Hashman, of Shaftesbury, Dorset, suffered discrimination. The activist previously won a ruling in the European Court of Human Rights. In 1999, it overturned a decision to bind him over for blowing a horn and shouting at a hunt. Judges said it breached his right to freedom of expression.