Rallying call over future of Shropshire courts

A final rallying call has been made by a steering group hoping to prevent sweeping court closures across Shropshire as public consultation over the plans was brought to a close today.

Jeremy Taylor, from Wace Morgan Solicitor, said he was recently joined by a handful other representatives including Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski on a trip to Whitehall to meet with justice ministers to lobby against the moves and he was confident the chambers in Shrewsbury would be saved.

Mr Talyor said it was critical for the population in the south and west of the county that Shrewsbury County Court - which has been named on a closure hit list - remained in use.

Having laid out a map of Shropshire in front of MP Jonathan Djanogly, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, he said they had put a strong case across.

He said: "We are one of the only towns to have sent people all the way to London to meet with justice ministers about the issue. We took a map of Shropshire to point out how the moves would affect the region, in particular people in the south and west of the county.

"We were able to talk about the decisions which we believe are being made by people who do not understand the county or the way it works. We put across a lengthy submission and we made clear the varying social arguments."

Ludlow, Oswestry and Market Drayton magistrates courts, along with Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Ludlow county courts, are on a list under scrutiny as the Government grapples with reducing Britain's £155 billion deficit.

The Public and Commercial Services union was due to stage protests outside the Ministry of Justice in London today.