Embattled construction giant Jarvis is facing a lawsuit over the quality of workmanship on a £9 million Bradford office building.

Holiday giant Thomas Cook has taken the troubled firm to Court over the state of the prestigious Aldermanbury building in the city centre.

It is understood the building - which was the first multi-million pound speculative office development in the city - is structurally safe but there are concerns about the way stone cladding is attached to it.

As a result it has been surrounded by scaffolding for several months to allow experts to assess its safety.

In the meantime, it is understood the case between Thomas Cook and Jarvis is now heading for a High Court battle, expected to take place next January.

There have already been two initial hearings.

Jarvis, the controversial firm which was dumped from its rail maintenance contract following the Potters Bar rail disaster, today confirmed it was defending the claim.

It is the latest in a string of problems for the flagship development which was hailed as a key part of Bradford's regeneration in the 1990s.

The offices were opened in 1998 but lay empty for several months as developers Huntington's looked for a tenant.

Thomas Cook's former tour operator JMC eventually set up its headquarters in the building, but the company later ditched the brand and reverted to the Thomas Cook name.

Today it employs about 450 staff at the offices, mainly in call centre-style roles.

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: "I can confirm that Thomas Cook is responsible for the building and is taking action against the builder regarding the standard of workmanship on the building.

"However, it is not dangerous and there is no threat to staff. The scaffolding is there to help people with their investigations."

It is understood the problems first emerged about six months ago when the major part of the scaffolding was put up to allow the inspection to take place.

Jarvis is engulfed in a series of well-known problems, being asked to hand over rail maintenance contracts and failing to deliver Private Finance Initiative projects in the health and education sectors on time.

Last month, the firm announced losses of £246.7 million and some business analysts have predicted it could go bust before the end of the year due to its mounting debts and falling share price.

The firm was employed on the construction of the Aldermanbury building by York-based Huntington's.

Today a Jarvis spokesman said: "There is a claim against us regarding the Aldermanbury building which we are defending."

Aldermanbury's chequered history began when the office was originally planned as part of the ambitious £200 million West End scheme for the city centre.

The office block was supposed to be the first phase but then developers 3D pulled out after only the foundations were completed. Huntington's later took over and was granted planning permission for a scaled down scheme.

The project won backing from the Government's regeneration body English Partnerships which awarded the scheme a £3 million grant.

In 2000, share dealing company TD Waterhouse, owner of the former YorkSHARE business, moved into the building alongside Thomas Cook and pledged to create more than 100 jobs. It closed the site just a year later blaming the downturn in the equity market and relocated staff to Leeds and Manchester.