Mr Justice Collins said: “I am satisfied that the publicity was insufficient.

“It seems clear to me that those responsible were concerned to do as little as they could do to comply with the law.

“The hope was that no objections would be made to delay the TRO and so the improvement of Edge Lane in aesthetic terms.”

He dismissed the claim the council had acted in bad faith, adding: “There was no intention to break the law, but the way Mr Vizor [Derwent representative] was treated is most unimpressive.”

The judge refused to quash the TRO, but said that the council “must consider properly any application to modify” the order and must bear the cost of any modifications.

A further case will be held now to assess the costs. Last night, a spokesman for Derwent said: “We are pleased with the outcome of the case, which we always believed was the inevitable outcome.

“We hope the council now can put all such matters behind it and move forward to a position whereby mutual cooperation between ourselves and the council will bring forward our land holdings along Edge Lane.

He said this would “vibrantly connect” Old Swan on one side and the technology park on the other.

A spokesman for the council said: “We are pleased that the judge did not quash the TRO, as we believed it was valid.

“On the question of publicity, we did much more than the minimum requirement.”

davidbartlett