Lawyers have threatened legal action over controversial plans to end Saturday sittings at Bingley Magistrates' Court.

Keighley-based solicitor Keith Blackwell said today that he and his colleagues were prepared to go to the High Court to block the proposal.

The move has been put forward by David Chandler, Clerk to the Justices. He says Bingley Magistrates' Court should close on Saturdays and Bank Holidays because of a shortage of court clerks. In addition, all weekend cases would be dealt with in Bradford.

But Mr Blackwell says the change is strongly opposed by lawyers, court staff, magistrates and police alike.

"People say the law can be an ass but it will look like a troop of donkeys if this goes ahead," he said.

"We will seriously consider seeking leave for a judicial review on two grounds.

"We say that there is an argument that it is illegal to carry out this change in this way and also the basis upon which they are trying to justify doing it cannot be sustained, namely that they say they can't staff Bingley with clerks on Saturdays when in fact we have spoken to clerks who are happy to staff Bingley on Saturdays.

"It's administrative gerrymandering that's going on here."

The new arrangements could come into force immediately after Easter after they have been discussed with Keighley magistrates on April 9.

But Mr Blackwell warned that the Keighley and Craven Law Society was ready to seek a judicial review before then in a bid to stop the changes being carried out.

He said moving Saturday cases to Bradford was an erosion of local justice.

"It's part of the long-term haemorrhaging of the powers of the Keighley Division. It's gradually being chipped away. First the court was moved from Keighley to Bingley and now they're trying to take another chip," said Mr Blackwell.

He said the proposal would make it much harder for friends and relatives who wanted to support defendants when they were appearing in court to do so.

Mr Blackwell added that encouraging more people to travel to Bradford by car at the weekend would add to pollution and parking problems.

Mr Chandler could not be contacted today and nobody from the West Riding Metropolitan Magistrates' Court Committee was available to comment.

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