FOURTEEN years after losing his sight, a Radcliffe man has helped to overturn a ban on blind people serving as magistrates.

Mr Bill Kenton (47), was one of six JPs selected to take part in a nationwide three-year pilot scheme to assess whether the blind and partially-sighted should sit on the bench.

Now, following the lifting of the ban by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, he will become the first blind person in the North West to be allowed to serve as a magistrate.

Mr Kenton, a former nurse at Bury's Florence Nightingale Hospital, who went blind as a result of a trauma, said: "I originally applied to the Bury bench to become a magistrate in the early 1990s but because the ban was still in force, I was turned down." However, in 1998 the father-of-two was one of six visually-impaired people nationwide to be appointed as Justices of the Peace when the pilot scheme began. Throughout the past three years, he has been under constant assessment to determine whether his performance was affected by his disability.

He said: "I was appointed when the ban was still in place. It was made clear, and we were certainly under the impression, that if for some reason we couldn't carry out our duties we were honour-bound to resign.

"I feel the fact that I'm blind has strengthened the bench from the point of view that it's now more representative by having someone who is disabled.

"Secondly, I've found that because of my blindness I've had to use my hearing to a much larger extent. Anybody who is blind or partially-sighted learns to utilise other senses.

"The court had to send regular reports to the Lord Chancellor and Duchy of Lancaster and my colleagues were also questioned, as were prosecution and defence solicitors."

Mr Kenton, who serves two days a month on the Manchester bench, added: "I always believe everybody should try to put something back into the community and I've absolutely enjoyed my time on the bench.

" I do believe it's an honour to serve."