Legal expert takes up court fight

The Right Honourable Lord Phillips of Sudbury, who appears on Radio 2's Jimmy Young Radio Show, is prepared to table a debate at Westminster angered over plans to close the courts.

The legal lord has taken interest in the closure of other courts in the past and said he is concerned about the proposals to close the Le Mans Crescent building.

Representatives from the town's court are to keep the Rt. Hon. Lord Phillips informed of developments.

Ken Hanham, chairman of the Bolton bench, writing in a letter to magistrates in the town, said: "Hopefully, the debate will take place before Christmas and we will be contacting other members of the Lords to join in the debate."

The Greater Manchester Magistrates Courts Committee wants to close Bolton and Salford courts because it claims the building is too expensive to modernise.

Under the controversial proposals, Bolton cases would be dealt with by courts in Manchester, Bury and Trafford, meaning staff, the police, defendants, witnesses and their families would have to travel outside the town.

But the team of experts joining the campaign to save the magistrates court is growing.

University professor Bill Kapila and his leading consultancy and training firm KTM is undertaking a study on the impact any closure would have on the organisations involved, such as the police, and probation service. It is likely to be finished by mid-January.

By then, the GMMCC should have published its consultation paper, which has been delayed as it carries out its own consumer survey.

It will make its decision whether to close the town's magistrates court in January or March next year.

If it rules that Bolton must close the council will have a four week period in May and June to appeal.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, who is in charge of courts across the country, would then carry out a review and give a decision sometime after July.

This means the campaign may continue long into 2002.