A West Midlands weekly newspaper is campaigning to reverse a decision to close a local magistrates’ court.

The Sutton Coldfield Observer’s vow to fight the proposed closure of Sutton Magistrates’ Court has been backed by a local MP and the town’s magistrates.

The Keep Justice Local campaign was launched in the paper with a front page splash headlined “It’s not over yet”.

It has also printed an officially-worded petition form which it urges readers to complete and return to the paper’s offices to be passed on to the Lord Chancellor through Parliament by Sutton MP Andrew Mitchell.

A front-page comment piece told readers: “We believe the loss of the court will strike at the very heart of our community, removing one of the vital pillars that support life in our society.

“The Observer believes that at a time when we are constantly being told that crime must be fought at a local level, it is patently ridiculous to remove the very centre of our local legal system.

“Justice should be seen to be done, and the community has the right to see it being carried out.”

Editor Gray Phelps told Holdthefrontpage: “We’ve immediately had good response to the campaign. We have until the end of November to submit it, so we’re hoping to get a few more thousand on board supporting us by then.

“We’ve got a rolling plan with different stories each week. A lot of the towns surrounding Sutton have already had their magistrates’ courts closed so we will be speaking to people who have been affected badly by it and to the magistrates who have resigned.

“We can’t allow it to happen to here. There are a number of things we have up our sleeve and hopefully we will turn the decision around.”

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