Court bosses are planning a major shake up of the way cases are brought to trial in Bradford after admitting the current system is failing.

The West Yorkshire Crown Prosecution Service is planning to scrap pre-trial review hearings to make the process more efficient.

The move comes after the CPS was criticised by a Bradford lawyer for "appalling" delays in bringing cases to trial.

The T&A reported yesterday how Nicholas Leadbeater, of McManus Seddon, spoke out at Bingley Youth Court earlier this month after the CPS failed to supply him with essential paperwork for two consecutive hearings of a case involving two 15-year-olds who were charged with taking a vehicle without consent.

It was one of several cases which had been delayed or even dismissed because papers were not prepared in time.

The CPS admitted it had been forced to adjourn cases because of staff shortages.

Chief Criminal Prosecutor Neil Franklin today said the pre-trial review system was "inefficient" and could be improved.

He told the T&A pre-trial review hearings were set up to allow "a robust examination" of the case to make sure the defendant would plead not guilty on the day of the trial.

However, he said the system had not worked because there had been no reduction in the number of trials which collapse on the day when defendants change their plea to guilty.

Mr Franklin said: "I think this is because there is a culture among defendants and defence solicitors of not pleading guilty until they see the whites of the witnesses' eyes."

The pre-trial review system was introduced in West Yorkshire three years ago to allow solicitors and magistrates to identify at an early stage whether a trial will be necessary because a defendant intends to enter a not guilty plea, and also to identify what witnesses will be needed by the defence and the prosecution.

The pre-trial review normally takes place at least six weeks after a defendant has been charged. But now the CPS is planning to do all this work at an early administrative hearing, held within a week of charges being brought.

Mr Franklin said that in order to achieve this the CPS was encouraging the police to do more case-building work before a defendant is charged to ensure paperwork was ready.

Detailed proposals of how the new system will work are set to be announced next month and piloted in a court in West Yorkshire before being rolled out across the county in the summer.

However he said the CPS would be holding consultations with defence solicitors before introducing the changes.