Judge rules against Mowlem in Bath Spa row

The Court of Appeal has stepped in to a long-running row over the Bath Spa - a £26m development which was due in September 2002.

An ongoing argument between the client Bath & North East Somerset Council and contractor Mowlem over the paint finish on the pools has seen the project delayed for 18 months.

Now Lord Justice Mance has said that any further delays to the project would cause "unquantifiable" damage to the local economy and public confidence.

He upheld a court order requiring construction firm Mowlem to allow another contractor on to the site to finish the job and today (Friday) the Court of Appeal ruled against Mowlem, ordering it to pay the council's £22,500 legal costs.

Responding to the ruling, a Mowlem spokesman said:  "We lodged the appeal only on a point of law. The judgement, which has been awaited for some time, has no bearing on the issue of why the paint failed and has become largely irrelevant in light of events since we lodged the appeal at the end of October 2003.

"What is far more important is that the council has now given Mowlem an instruction to remove all paint from the pools in preparation for an alternative solution to be applied. It was the refusal to issue such an instruction in August 2003 that led to court proceedings in the first place.

"We believe that the council's decision to now issue this instruction, for which we are entitled to be paid extra and given additional time, is the right one and by far the best way forward," he said.