A MAGISTRATE retiring after almost 20 years, will soon be seeing life from the other side of the bench.

Fred Poulton, Burnley's former chief building surveyor, is set to join the Witness Support Service currently based at Burnley Crown Court, but soon to be extended to the town's magistrates' court.

Mr Poulton, a grandfather-of-two, says he will miss dispensing justice with Pennine's magistrates, but feels he could be of some use to the Witness Support Service.

Born and bred in the area, Mr Poulton, who retired from Burnley Council in 1989, said he found his two decades on the bench interesting, although he did not enjoy sending anybody to jail. He went on: "But, at the end of the day, if that's what it takes."

A keen radio ham, Mr Poulton, who lives with his wife Joan in Briercliffe, was educated at the former Mansfield Secondary Modern School and trained as a joiner on leaving.

He then studied at evening classes and qualified as a surveyor.

On his retirement from the bench, Mr Poulton received a special edition print of a Lancaster bomber.

A former member of the RAF, Mr Poulton chose the print because it would have remind him of his time in the force and also of his years in the courts.

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