Two brothers serving jail sentences for misleading thousands of customers at a winter wonderland theme park on the Hampshire and Dorset border have won the right to appeal their convictions.

Victor Mears, 67, and Henry Mears, 60, opened the Lapland New Forest park in 2008, but it was shut down within days after a deluge of complaints from unhappy customers.

Both men, from Brighton, were jailed for 13 months in March after they were convicted at Bristol Crown Court of misleading the public in relation to the attraction.

But yesterday, a top judge at London’s Court of Appeal granted them permission to appeal their convictions after hearing about alleged juror misconduct during the trial.

Geoffrey Robinson QC told the court that one female juror had been in regular contact with her fiance, who sat in the public gallery and hung around the court during the trial.

Text messages were sent back and forth between the couple, even while the juror was in the jury box, with one of the man’s messages reading “guilty”.

Other messages, some of which she showed to other members of the jury, warned the woman when she might be called back into court after discussions in the absence of the jury.

The woman admitted being in touch with her fiancee, but said his “guilty” text was an apology for eating a fried breakfast that morning, when he should have been on a diet.

“The jury should have been discharged the minute the juror admitted that three of her fellow jurors had been privy to information from texts gleaned from the man in the gallery, her fiance,” the QC said.

“It was not sufficient to discharge merely that juror.”

Mr Justice Sweeney said the appeal was “arguable” and granted permission for a full appeal hearing before three judges, likely to take place next month, but denied the brothers bail.

Their trial heard that customers – expecting a “bustling” Christmas market in an attraction near Ringwood “where dreams come true” – were greeted by a muddy field, fairy lights dangling from a tree and a broken ice rink.