CHIPPENHAM Magistrates Court could be in danger of closing as the government consults on plans to shut 91 courts and tribunals in England and Wales.

The closure has been criticised by local solicitors as it would most likely force people to travel to Swindon or Salisbury instead.

Consultation on the plans, which aim to reduce what Justice Secretary Michael Gove has identified as “surplus capacity”, ends on October 8.

Mike Pulsford, consultant solicitor at Jeary & Lewis solicitors, which has been established in Chippenham for more than 30 years, said: “I think we would say as a firm that its makes no sense in our view to close a building which was only opened in 1997 and is fully utilised for criminal cases and county court hearings.

“The impact on people living in this part of the county would be great because they would incur travelling expenses to Salisbury or Swindon and many of them can’t afford it. We would completely support an appeal to keep the Chippenham building open.”

Mr Pulsford also believes that the building in Swindon would need substantial funding to extend in order to take on the extra business brought about by a closure in Chippenham.

He added: “They closed all the local magistrates’ courts 15 or 20 years ago and that was a major blow to local justice and this will be a further blow. We will be writing as a firm to object to the closure.”

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service operates 460 courts and tribunal hearing centres across England and Wales. The estate costs taxpayers around half a billion pounds each year.

Consulting solicitor for Chippenham-based Richard Griffiths & Co. Solicitors, Andrew Watts-Jones, said: “I think it’s an entirely inappropriate step, it’s backwards and it’s not good for justice. It’s no good for the prestige of the town of Chippenham which is growing.

“The travelling too, for all of those in North and West Wiltshire who have to go to Swindon will be expensive it will cost witnesses and defendants a lot of money."

The consultation puts forward proposals aiming to reduce surplus capacity by closing those courts and tribunals that are unused or underused, or that are simply unsuitable for the services we need to provide from them.

In the plans, parliamentary under-secretary of state for courts and legal aid, Shailesh Vara, said that the buildings being consulted on, including Chippenham, represented 16 per cent of hearing rooms across the estate which is, on average, used for only a third of their available time.

He said: “It will still be the case that, after these changes, over 95 per cent of citizens will be able to reach their required court within an hour by car. This represents a change of just one percentage point for Crown and magistrates’ courts and two percentage points for County Courts.”

Mr Vara went on to say that in more rural locations, the government are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access services which may mean using civic and other public buildings, such as town halls, for hearings instead of underused, poorly-maintained permanent courts.