BOLTON is performing well compared with other parts of the country, according to the first Crown Court annual report.

The survey was published by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, as part of a new drive to reduce delays and improve efficiency.

It looks at all 78 centres across England and Wales against eight criteria including timeliness of cases and courtroom usage.

In Bolton, the number of trials disposed of within 16 weeks, the number of sentences dealt with in 10 weeks and the number of appeals dealt with in 14 weeks is 70 per cent, compared with the Court Service target of 78 per cent.

Courtroom usage stands at just over 4 hours which is above the national target.

However, average waiting times in Bolton are about 16 weeks, whereas the target is eight for defendants in custody and 12 for those on bail.

And almost a third of cases are unable to proceed to trial on the day they were due to start.