A DESPERATE plea has been made for more magistrates in Bolton.

During the past few months, many magistrates have retired and, with no new magistrates coming through the system, a recruitment drive has started.

Bolton has 185 magistrates but needs 230 for the courts to run more efficiently.

The Bolton Magistrates' Court open day on Monday was used to get more people interested in signing up.

Magistrate Joyce Armistead said: "We have had quite a good response so far but we'll have to wait and see how people send the application forms back.

"Quite a lot of magistrates have retired recently because 70 is the retirement age and we have had a couple of deaths too so we urgently need people to come forward."

Magistrates, or Justices of the Peace as they are formally known, deal with 97 per cent of all adult and youth criminal cases in England and Wales. They also deal with cases affecting families and children, liquor licensing and gaming applications.

No qualifications are needed to do the job but a magistrate must be willing to dedicate at least six half-days a year.

Mrs Armistead said: "We need to get more balance on the benches in courts. People think we just want teachers or doctors but we really need shop workers, cleaners, electricians, plumbers -- people from all different work backgrounds.

"It means you get more rounded opinions on the bench. We also need more people from different ethnic backgrounds, again for the balance.

"I have been a magistrate for 12 years and it is a very worthwhile job. You feel like you're putting something back into the community, as well as feeling as part of a team. We all work together and help each other out."

The service is particularly short of people from different ethnic backgrounds and full training is given.

Contact Madeleine Stocks on 01204 558227 or email madeleinestocks@

gmmcc.mcs.gsi.gov.uk for an application, or write to Robert Walker, deputy secretary to the Bolton Advisory Committee, Bolton Magistrates Court, Civic Centre, Le Mans Crescent, Bolton, BL1 1QX.

Meanwhile, the Magistrates Court took on a Victorian theme to show how justice was meted out more than a century ago.

Visitors were welcomed by a man in Victorian dress and Victorian policemen patrolled the market looking for "potential law breakers".

An actress was dragged kicking and screaming to stand before magistrates as the crowds looked on.

There were four mock Victorian trials carried out throughout the day and four modern day mock trials.

Demonstrations of electronic tagging, on what future courts might look like, a virtual prison tour and all the facts about drink driving were given in different courts.

Information on Victim Support, Witness Support, the Magistrates Courts Committee, the Police Museum and the Crown Prosecution Service was also available.

The open day was used to encourage Bolton people to sign up as magistrates because of falling numbers.