Aylesbury Magistrates Court to shut down

Aylesbury Magistrates Court is to close.
Aylesbury Magistrates' CourtAylesbury Magistrates' Court
Aylesbury Magistrates' Court

The Ministry of Justice announced today that the court will close, and the building will be used to house the Aylesbury Crown Court.

People who would have previously appeared at the magistrates court will now have to travel to Milton Keynes or High Wycombe.

But today’s announcement did say that occasional magistrates court hearings may take place in the old building.

The announcement read: “Many respondents (to a public consultation on the closure) raised concerns around the increase in travel time and costs resulting from transferring the workload.

“Respondents to the consultation included local authorities and parish councils whose main remarks were about travel difficulties either for their clients or staff.

“HM Courts and Tribunal Service is committed to ensuring that it continues to provide court and tribunal users with effective access to justice while finding ways to do so in a way that reduces costs alongside its efforts to improve the efficiency of the justice system as a whole.

“It should be noted that Buckinghamshire already has a single bench of magistrates covering the whole of the county and there will be no requirement for changes to existing local justice areas.

“HM Courts & Tribunals Service acknowledge that some people will need to travel further to reach court. People infrequently need to attend court and of those, only a small proportion would use public transport to reach court.

“Almost all journeys to the proposed new locations can be undertaken in under an hour.”

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