The full-body bathing suit favoured by some Muslim women has become a bugbear of the European far right, which has campaigned to restrict Muslim dress in public spaces.

In a ruling made public this week, the Salzburg Court found that the hotel in the western ski resort of St. Johann im Pongau had discriminated against two Austrian Muslim women by preventing them from wearing the garment.

After a heated argument with the manager, who insisted that the burkini was unhygienic and made other guests feel uncomfortable, the women filed a complaint about the incident last year.

It found that the hotel manager’s argument that the garment was unhygienic “does not hold water, as burkinis are made from the same materials as other swimwear and routine water checks found no irregularities”.