A prominent Scottish journalist yesterday lost his legal battle with the Sunday Herald newspaper.

Angus MacLeod, Scottish political editor of The Times and a regular contributor to radio and television, sued the sister paper of The Herald over a diary item in the Sunday paper.

This included a reference to those shortlisted in the annual awards among Holyrood political journalists for making the biggest gaffe of the preceding year. Mr MacLeod's legal team argued in the Court of Session that the article, which appeared on December 18, 2005, had alleged he had invented a story, and that he was due £50,000 compensation for damage to his reputation.

Lord Macphail's ruling on the claim dismissed it at its first legal hurdle, saying the context of the reference to Mr Macleod showed it had been intended for readers' entertainment in "a cheerful, irreverent and playful spirit, and contained elements of fantasy".

Interpreting other items in the same diary column, which was written by journalist Alan Taylor, the judge ruled that the newspaper reader would be clear "that Mr Macleod was being chaffed or teased by the diarist in a light-hearted or bantering manner for having written a story which could be described as a gaffe'".

David McKie, solicitor for the Sunday Herald, said: "This is an important decision for newspapers and in particular for diarists.

"It reiterates that humour, both verbal and written, is just that, and even where irreverent or playful, it is not necessarily actionable".