Courts have been told to jail defendants who fail to turn up for hearings in a bid to crack down on time-wasters.

Figures from the West Yorkshire Magistrates' Courts Service show that 16 per cent of defendants do not turn up for their first hearing in Bradford.

For Keighley the level is 17 per cent. Both are above the 13 per cent county average.

Now magistrates are using the threat of custody to end a practice which inconveniences witnesses and adds to pressure on courts.

Fiona Philpott, district legal director at Bradford Magistrates' Court, said: "If someone fails to turn up to court it means that the court is not being fully efficient but when the defendant reappears it adds to the workload of another court.

"It's also an unpleasant experience for the witnesses who to have to turn up at court again unnecessarily."

Police faces extra work tracking down people on arrest warrants.

Magistrates will impose tougher sentences for the offence of failing to surrender to bail without good reason where the defendant has absconded for a long time. Between seven days and three months could be added to the original punishment.

In the most serious cases, the magistrates can send the defendant to crown court where the judge has the power to impose a sentence of up to 12 months.

Peter Sherlock, director of legal services for the county's magistrates' service, said: "We have been advising courts that they also have the power to impose imprisonment on these defendants.

"Some people do not come to court but they have a good reason for their absence but others do not and they have the right to be given detention."

The problem also spreads to trials with 17 per cent of those stopped in the quarter ending last June, halted by non-attendance of the defendant.