Solicitors revealed today that the Grand Chamber of European Court of Rights had found by a majority of 15 -2 that the sisters relationship was of a different nature to that of married couples and homosexual partners and they had not suffered discrimination.

The solicitor Elizabeth Gedye read a statement from the sisters in which they thanked all the many people who had sent letters of support.

In their statement the sisters said they had been fighting for 32 years to gain the same inheritance tax rights as married couples and more recently couples in civil partnerships.

"We are still struggling to understand why two single sisters in their old age whose only crime was to choose to stay single and look after their parents and two aunts to the end should find themselves in such a position in the UK in the 21st century."

The pair said they'd always paid their taxes, cared for relatives and each other without any help from the state.

"We are now in the worrying and upsetting position of being unable to secure each other in our last few years."