DEVIZES MP Michael Ancram is to lobby the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, to prevent the proposed closure of the town's magistrates' court, the last courthouse in Kennet district.

A meeting of the Wiltshire Magistrates' Courts Committee, held at Urchfont Manor last week, decided that Devizes and Trowbridge had to lose their courts if a new purpose-built courthouse was to be built in Salisbury.

The Trowbridge court is destined to close on March 31 next year, though the Devizes court, housed in temporary buildings in Northgate Gardens, will remain until the new courts are built in Salisbury, in not less than two years.

Trowbridge cases will be heard at the North Wiltshire Magistrates Court in Chippenham, and Devizes cases at the new courthouse in Salisbury.

Paul Wilcock, justices' chief executive for Wiltshire, said: "The review was necessary because Wiltshire sits at the bottom of a national league for efficient use of courtrooms."

He added that matters were made worse 12 months ago when courts at Devizes, Trowbridge and Salisbury had to stop hearing custody cases because the facilities for prisoners were said to infringe security, health and human rights legislation. This, he said, has caused major disruption and unacceptable inconvenience to members of the public, magistrates and court officials.

The Lord Chancellor's department called for the reduction in Wiltshire's courthouses from 18 to 12, saying that they were under used.

John Bush, chairman of the Wiltshire Magistrates' Courts Committee, said last week's decision to press ahead with the proposed closures will have to go out to consultation before a final decision is made in February.

He said: "We won't get funding for a new courthouse as long as we are bottom of the list, unless we reduce our number of courtrooms. The present arrangements at Salisbury are deplorable and there is a desperate need for a new courthouse there."

Mr Bush added: "We will put in place sympathetic arrangements for court users. They can apply to have their cases heard at Chippenham or Swindon rather than Salisbury if that is more convenient and if they phone to say they will be late that will be taken into consideration."

But Mr Ancram said that he would continue making representations to try and keep Devizes courthouse open. He said: "It is short-sighted and wrong to close the court and goes against the concept of justice being dispensed locally by local people. The magistrates courts committee has been forced into the centralisation of justice.

"People have to be able to get to court easily and justice should be seen to be done in the community."

Mr Ancram said he would continue to try persuade the Lord Chancellor that closing the court is wrong.