LEIGH councillors have condemned proposals to close Leigh Magistrates Court and move everything to Wigan.

And they are urging locals to sign a petition aimed at keeping justice in Leigh.

Local Local Labour Party leading light Cll Mark Hale explained why closing Leigh is seen as an 'easy' option.

He said: "A consultation document has been issued which proposes closing Leigh on financial grounds and moving the work of Leigh court to Wigan.

"The basis of the financial argument is that Wigan Court requires additional work if it is to meet targets set by the Lord Chancellor's Department.

"But Leigh is meeting these targets and is a very successful court. The easy answer seems to be to close Leigh to provide the additional workload for Wigan and save costs at Leigh."

But Cllr Hale says this argument does not take in to account the additional expense for those needing to travel to Wigan.

He said: "We are not just talking about the criminals. Leigh Court also deals with many family cases which involve children and the disabled."

And he says additional time and financial costs would be incurred by magistrates, legal representatives, witnesses and police because of the extra travelling. And already an increase in court workload is envisaged with the Government's introduction of new crime fighting measures.

Now Leigh Councillors are demanding Council backing to fight the proposal and aim to appeal to the Lord Chancellor.

And a multi-agency group including Cllr Hale, chairman of the Leigh Bench Dennis Dunn, Conservative Malcolm Parr, magistrate and Cllr Peter Turner and Law Society representatives will work together to keep local justice in Leigh.

A determined Cllr Hale said: "We will take this as far as we can."

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