Straw justifies closing smaller courts

In a statement to Parliament yesterday, Mr Straw insisted that the move to close the little-used courts would not have a "significant adverse impact" on the provision of local justice.

Mr Straw said many of the buildings lacked disabled access and he had decided it was not worth spending taxpayers' money carrying out the necessary modifications.

When the move was first proposed in October last year, the Magistrates' Association warned removing courts from communities undermined confidence in the criminal justice system.

But yesterday Mr Straw told MPs: "I am confident that the closures will not have a significant adverse impact on the provision of local justice.

"Indeed ... these closures will assist the delivery of modern justice services and provide communities with better, more efficient facilities."

Mr Straw said: "Magistrates' courts developed in certain locations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when areas of local government, then responsible for these courts, were much smaller and transport links were more elementary.

"It is no longer necessary to have a court in every small town."