COURT bosses have been accused of carrying out a ‘sham’ consultation after the Lancashire Telegraph discovered prosecutions had been quietly stopped at Rawtenstall.

Plans to close Rawtenstall Magistrates Court were announced by Her Majesty’s Courts Service earlier this year.

Formal consultation on the plans, which were opposed by Rossendale councillors, ended on September 15 but a decision is not expected for months.

But it has emerged that cases have been gradually relocated to Reedley Magistrates Court over the past month, ahead of a final announcement on the valley courtrooms, at St Mary’s Chambers.

This week marked the end of the relocation programme as the final criminal cases at Rawtenstall were heard. Youth court work and private prosecutions are already being heard at Reedley.

Criminal matters from Rawtenstall, Bacup and Haslingden, and the rest of the borough, will now be heard alongside Burnley and Pendle cases at the main Pennine courthouse in Parker Lane, Burnley.

Council leader Coun Tony Swain said: “If you are going to consult on something then you need to at least wait and see what the outcome is.

“We saw that the writing was on the wall for Rawtenstall Magistrates Court but the way this has happened does not seem right.”

Labour leader Coun Alyson Barnes said: “This just makes a sham of the consultation exercise and makes people cynical.

“We have lost so many services in Rossendale and this is just one more which is going.

“Many people who will have to attend court cases in Burnley and Reedley will not necessarily have access to their own transport.”

Proposals are also under consideration to close Rawtenstall County Court and move civil cases to Accrington.

A HM Courts Services spokesman said: “The process to revise the listing pattern in the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Local Justice Area commenced prior to the publication of the consultation paper on court reforms, which includes the proposal to close Rawtenstall Magistrates’ Court.

“This change is to ensure that the level of court sittings within the local justice area is proportionate to the volume of work being created, which has been decreasing for a number of years.”