A woman who was stricken with food poisoning after a restaurant meal that led to life-changing consequences has been awarded more than £250,000 damage.

Tracey Rae told a court how her life was altered after she chose a warm chicken liver and beetroot salad during an evening out with her husband and friends.

Mrs Rae was hit by campylobacter and was later diagnosed with post infection irritable bowel syndrome after "a lovely meal".

She told a civil jury at the Court of Session that following the dinner at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's restaurant in St Giles Street, Leith, Edinburgh, in 2009 she was later hit by severe sweats, stomach cramps and felt sick.

She also suffered pain, diarrhoea and began to pass blood and was diagnosed as having contracted Campylobacter infection as a result of eating undercooked chicken livers.

She was later found to have developed irritable bowel syndrome and is still living with the consequences almost seven years after picking her starter, she told a court.

She sued James Freeman, trading as Saffron Private Catering, with a place of business in Berwick Upon Tweed, who was in charge of catering at the restaurant at the time for compensation. Liability in the action was admitted, but jurors had to assess the level of damages.

After a week of evidence and submissions they awarded Mrs Rae in excess of £263,000, including £175,000 for future loss of earnings and employability and £50,000 for pain and suffering.

The jury also decided that she should receive more than £30,000 for past and future cost of food and dietary supplements.

The mother-of-two told the court she now had a gluten and dairy free diet and added: "I can't have any alcohol and I can't have any caffeine."

Mrs Rae said she had experienced pain and other continuing problems, including with her bowels. She added: "I am far more anxious than I was before."

"The children probably missed out on quite a lot. I was reluctant to go on holidays," she told the court.

"We didn't go out for meals and things because I found it quite stressful," she said.

Her junior counsel Dana Forbes told jurors: "Chicken liver carries a particularly high risk of this type of bacteria, although it can be easily killed by proper cooking."

"In the course of your meal you have the warn chicken liver salad as a starter. The night passes, on the face of it, without any incident and all seems well. However, by early Monday morning you become very ill," said the counsel in her opening speech.

She said that Mrs Rae, 44, of Reddingmuirhead, Falkirk, no longer went to friends' homes as often as previously and that while going to restaurants was once fun and enjoyable it has now become "complicated and stressful".

She said she could no longer go on holidays camping and cycling with her family.

The counsel said that Mrs Rae, who worked part-time as an adult literacy tutor, had planned to return to full-time work when her younger daughter started secondary school but that had not been possible because of the effect of her symptoms.

Ms Forbes told jurors that they would hear that following a dairy and gluten free diet cost considerably more.

In the written pleadings in the action it was said that it was "notorious" in the food preparation and catering trade that Campylobacter bacteria were endemic in poultry and particularly chicken and that unless they are destroyed before human consumption are likely to cause stomach and bowel problems which can be severe and long-lasting.