A woman left paralysed for life after a road accident has been awarded damages of #770,000 against her husband who was driving the family car at the time of the crash.

A judge ruled yesterday that Mr George Kozikowski was at fault for the accident on a Highland road when his Ford Escort was struck by an oncoming lorry.

Lord Dawson also decided that local road gritter Thomas Girvan, described as one of the ''local heroes'' who tries to keep Highland roads safe in winter, was not to blame for what happened.

Mrs Sandra Kozikowska, 46, sued for #2m after the accident on the A887 Bunloyne to Invermoriston road on January 18 1990 which left her with a fractured spine.

She alleged that her husband was driving too fast for the conditions and that the road, for which Highland Region was responsible, had not been gritted for 12 hours.

In her claim at the Court of Session, Mrs Kozikowska said that the accident had turned her from an active, healthy woman to someone who was wheelchair-bound, dependent on others, and no longer able to cuddle her two children.

The couple, of Orbost House, Dunvegan, Skye, and their two children, Katyana,15, and Alex, 10, had moved to the area from London six months before the accident, and were on their way to Inverness to buy furniture for their bed and breakfast business.

Mr Kozikowski,44, told the court that, on the day of the accident there was snow on the road and, as he was negotiating a bend, he saw a lorry in the distance.

His car went into a spin and he lost control as the lorry came towards him.

He told the court: ''I did a hard swing to the right to try to get the car off the road.

''All I could see was it (the lorry) getting bigger and bigger and then it hit and I think I blacked out.''

In a written judgment issued yesterday, Lord Dawson said that Mr Kozikowski had been driving too fast in the conditions and lost control of the car as he tried to take a bend.

Mr Kozikowski accepted he had been at fault, but argued that Highland Region should have to pay 50% of the damages to his wife because of the failure to grit the road.

The judge heard that the council contracted gritting duties to two local farmers, brothers Thomas and Martin Girvan.

Thomas Girvan, of Tomchrasky, Glenmoriston, insisted that the road had been gritted at 6pm the previous evening and six o'clock on the morning of the accident (which happened at about 8.45am).

A consultant civil engineer, George Kirkbride, a former director of roads with Grampian Region, told the court that people like Mr Girvan had a sense of loyalty and commitment to the job and simply would not miss out on a gritting.

It was a service needed by the public, by their families and local comunities and the gritter was a sort of of local hero.

It would soon be known if he had failed in his duty.

Lord Dawson said he had been told that Mr Girvan had carried out his duties satisfactorily for a number of years with no complaint about failing to grit the road.

The judge added: ''The people who used that road were dependent on him for their safety, and any dereliction in duty would quickly have been noticed and no doubt reported.''

The judge added that Mr Girvan's wife, Annie, had been on the gritting run with him that morning and Lord Dawson considered that she was an honest woman who gave her evidence in a straightforward manner.

''Her children would have to travel on that road and I could not believe that she would countenance any failure on her husband's part to make the road safe.''

The judge cleared the council of any blame and said that Mr Kozikowski should be liable for all the damages to his wife.