An appeal against the ruling in the so-called 'gay cake' case has been ruled inadmissible by a European court.

The European Court of Human Rights judges ruled that the case was inadmissible because it was the first time the "breach of human rights" argument had been made.

They say the applicant would first have had to use the UK courts to say his human rights were being harmed.

The case revolves around a Belfast bakery's refusal to produce a cake with a 'support gay marriage' message.

In 2014, Gareth Lee had asked the bakery to ice a cake depicting 'Sesame Street' characters Bert and Ernie and the logo for the campaign group, Queerspace.

Ashers bakery refused to fufil the order, saying it was a 'Christian business'. They apologised and refunded his money.

The bakery - owned by Daniel McArthur and his wife Amy - was initially judged in 2015 to have broken the law after it was sued by the Equality Commission for refusing to make the cake.

However in 2018, the UK's Supreme Court ruled the bakery owners did not discriminate against Mr Lee.

Ashers Bakery in Belfast. Picture by Sean Harkin / Alamy Stock Photo

A panel of justices decided the bakers did not refuse to serve the customer because of his sexual orientation, religion or beliefs.

Mr Lee had applied for the European Court of Human Rights to hear the case, but the court has now refused to do so.

In a statement, the court said: "The applicant had not invoked his Convention rights at any point in the domestic proceedings.

"By relying solely on domestic law, the applicant had deprived the domestic courts of the opportunity to address any Convention issues raised, instead asking the Court to usurp the role of the domestic courts.

"Because he had failed to exhaust domestic remedies, the application was inadmissible."