Woman wins £1m over food poisoning

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Margaret-Ann Reynard's career as a midwife was ruined, the Court of Session in Edinburgh heard. She sued Exquisite Quisine after eating at one of its restaurants, Latours, in East Kilbride in October 2000. The company admitted liability for the salmonella.

Mrs Reynard, 39, from East Kilbride, suffered from a bout of severe diarrhoea which lasted for 17 days. After developing reactive arthritis she was unable to return to her job as a staff midwife with Ayrshire and Arran health authority and was retired on ill-health grounds last year.

She told the court: "I was hopeful that I would get better and work until I retired. It was my dream."

Mrs Reynard, who has to walk with the aid of a stick, said that, as well as not being able to work, she would have to sell her first-floor flat to buy a specially modified bungalow.

Lord Hodge awarded Mrs Reynard £1, 243, 082 in damages, which included £627, 730 for the loss of her earnings until her retirement and the loss of her pension rights, and £397,304 for the cost of past and future care.