The Government is being asked to step in to save one of Bolton’s key institutions from closure.

A committee of magistrates is proposing to close the historic courts and send people for trial in Bury, Manchester and Trafford instead.

The proposal comes after plans to refurbish or rebuild the current buildings have already been approved by the Lord Chancellor.

The editor of the Bolton Evening News, Mark Rossiter, said in the paper: “We believe closing the court would be a travesty of justice and want the Lord Chancellor to personally intervene.

“But we need our readers to help ensure Bolton justice will continue to be administered in Bolton by local people.

“The BEN believes it makes no sense for our neighbours to judge our town’s issues which they may not understand.

“It also makes no sense that the Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Courts Committee, which has no Bolton representative, should decide the future of our court.”

The paper said Bolton, with a population of 250,000 people, should have a magistrates court by right. The current court is the second busiest in Greater Manchester.

The paper is getting a petition together for readers to back its arguments before going on to lobby the Lord Chancellor.

MPs are already queuing up to back the appeal, as are councillors and lawyers groups in the area.

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