The spa building is still shrouded in scaffolding

The council claimed paint in the pools had not been applied properly, while Mowlem protested there was a problem with the paint.

On Thursday in the High Court B&NES won an injunction which will allow the council to hire an alternative contractor to carry out the work.

Delivering his verdict, Judge Richard Seymour QC said it would be "frankly ridiculous" to refuse the injunction when, to do so, would leave the Bath spa project "in some sort of limbo for who knows how long".

After the hearing, the city's Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster said: "It's a victory for common sense.

Listed buildings

"Now hopefully, before too long the work will be done."

A spokesman for B&NES said: "Bath & North East Somerset council is pleased that the Judge has given it this vital relief.

"The council's aim has always been a finished, working spa as soon as possible and this decision brings it one step closer."

The project has been a stop-start affair since the original project was unveiled in September 2000.

An NHS spa treatment centre on the site was closed on health grounds in 1978 and since then, attempts to restore the spas have failed because of cost and concerns over the purity of the water's source.

But in 2000, the Millennium Commission gave a grant of �7.78m to refurbish five listed buildings within the complex, including the 18th Century Hot Bath and Cross Bath.

Work on the ambitious project began soon afterwards, but the scheme was plagued by a series of delays culminating in several further setbacks since May.