Tayside Contracts, the commercial trading arm of Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross councils, raised an action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh following a series of failed road repairs in 2010.

The company claimed the surface dressing did not embed properly into the road surface because the aggregate chippings from D Geddes Contractors’ quarry in Abrbroath were “not fit for purpose”.

Valued at £176,631, the chippings were used on roads across Tayside and some sub-contracting work carried out in Falkirk.

But the claim was rejected by the Court of Session, which ruled the link between the chippings and the surfacing problems was not established.

In his judgment, Lord Doherty said: “The pursuers have failed to prove their case. It follows that the defender is entitled to decree of absolvitor.”

Tayside Contracts put forward three ways in which it claimed the Geddes Group was in breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

The firm argued there had not been proper adhesion between the material and the bitumen binder.

The second claim stated the Waulkmill’s mineralogy made it “susceptible to stripping of the aggregate from the binder emulsion, particularly in the presence of water”.

The third argument was that if the court was not satisfied that the failures were caused by one or other of the suggested causes, it “should nonetheless be satisfied they were caused by some unknown characteristic of the aggregate which made it of unsatisfactory quality or unfit for the purpose of use in surface dressing on roads in eastern Scotland.”

However, Lord Doherty found in favour of the Geddes Group, having heard evidence from a number of civil engineering experts.

A spokesman for D Geddes told The Courier: “We are extremely pleased with the opinion of Lord Doherty. The opinion has vindicated our stance on this matter.

“We will consult with our relevant advisors and make comment on how we wish to proceed in due course.”