Bradford Crown Court is dealing with almost 30 per cent fewer trials than 12 months ago.

The court has more than halved a backlog of 1,000 cases in 1999 and is now ready to hit Government targets for the speed with which it deals with cases.

The slump in cases has led to a turn-around for the court which, only two years ago, was poised to build four temporary courtrooms to cope with demand. During that period, many cases were diverted to other courts across Yorkshire and the north-east.

But today Crown Court manager David Lunan revealed the number of new trials being dealt with has fallen by 28 per cent in 12 months - allowing the backlog to be cut to 470.

Mr Lunan said he was "at a loss" to explain the sharp fall in cases. "I have contacted the magistrates court and the police, but we just don't know why this has happened," he said. "However, my experience at other courts has shown that the number of cases can be very cyclical."

The fall in cases, and measures implemented after criticism from the Lord Chancellor's office, has boosted the court's performance in the Government's first court 'league table' which was unveiled this week.

Bradford's KPI3 rating, which measures the speed with which the court deals with cases, was 71.5 per cent - just short of both the target 78 per cent and UK average 76 per cent.

But Mr Lunan said the league table only accounted for performance to March this year, since when Bradford's average has risen to 78.9 per cent.

"This figure is by far the most important and represents a significant improvement on our previous performance," he said. "I am very pleased with these results."

Mr Lunan said he was not concerned about Bradford's lengthy average waiting time for cases to reach court, which he said also represented a significant improvement.

The report suggested Bradford's courtrooms were not effectively used, with courts sitting for an average of less than four hours per day. Out of the UK's 78 courts, that is the seventh lowest figure - and short of the target of around four-and-a-half hours. Mr Lunan said the main reason for the poor performance was because so many trials finished early.