THE DOORS of Evesham court have closed to local justice, and Journal court reporter Gerry Barnett who first used the press bench there over 50 years ago has been getting reaction from others involved for many years:

John Johnson, a magistrate for nearly 29 years, said the opening of the new court complex at Worcester marked a very important and notable day for all involved in the day-to-day work of maintaining law and order.

"Like my colleagues," he said, "I have no hesitation in welcoming this new complex which has been long overdue, and bearing in mind the working conditions we had to endure in Deansway, it would be foolhardy to level any criticism at this early stage."

But Mr Johnson said the site of the new building the other side of Worcester city, where there were two opposite one-way road systems, could only cause further mayhem to the traffic problems.

"I await with apprehension to see how many defendants turn up on time to answer their bail," he said. "How many witnesses trying to find somewhere to park will give up and go back home, wasting their time after a 40-50 mile round journey?

Coffin

"In the opening of this new court complex we must also accept that another nail has been driven into the coffin of Evesham court's future.

"Will once again the politicians from the public sector, who sneer at local justice, stand poised with their knives? I sincerely hope not."

He said while the building remains, he holds out hope for the continued use of Evesham court but said: "The possible closure of one of the finest courtrooms in the county will further remove the fabric of local justice from the southern part of the county and must be fought with as much vigour and effort as we carried out in 1997 and which resulted in a notably victory for common sense."

Mr Johnson strongly urged West Mercia Magistrates Court Committee to forget the "hypnotic wonders" of Private Finance Initiatives and leave Evesham courtroom open. In the event of a decision to close, he reminded Worcester County Council it had the power to oppose it and suggested councillors should show they cared about the people who voted them into power.

Duties

Mr Johnson said: "For many years I have carried out my duties as a JP working with some wonderful and experienced colleagues whose belief, like mine, is that there is such a thing as local justice. It has worked for hundreds of years, it is the very backbone of English justice and will carry on working in the future. A High Court judge once said 'Leave that what is well alone and alter not'"

Long-serving Evesham solicitor John Brookes said: "Today we are governed by accountants and a Lord Chancellor who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

"I understand the pressures that are on the Magistrates Court Committee but I really feel they have lost their sense of direction and their purpose."

He stressed: "The courts are there to serve the community, not some accountant's bottom line.

"That is an argument which is no longer fashionable today but the closure of rural courts is to remove justice and in particular local justice from the population.

"It is to deny many people on fixed incomes the redress, certainly in civil areas of the law, that they would otherwise hope to seek, and is an abrogation of the duty of the courts towards the population it is designed to serve.

"Court administration should be the servant of the people. Today the courts run themselves for their own convenience and not that of the public whose needs they were originally designed to serve."