SENIOR Bradford solicitors have voiced fears that custody cases will be moved from Bradford to Leeds due to the building of new magistrates court cells.

The £4.5m custody suite, due to be completed in March, is being built at the back of the Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court in the city centre.

It will allow for the demolition of the old police station in The Tyrls, making way for a major office redevelopment scheme. Basement cells in the empty station are still in use, with an underground tunnel linking them to the court.

The Courts and Tribunals Service welcomed the new custody suite and said the works were expected to cause minimal disruption to court business.

But there are increasing concerns among Bradford lawyers, and court and probation staff, that cases involving defendants in custody will be moved out of the city, at least temporarily.

Bradford Council denied the old cells would be demolished until the new custody suite was finished, but solicitors have been told otherwise.

Alan Petherbridge, a partner with leading Bradford law firm Petherbridge Bassra, said a notice from the courts was recently placed in the solicitors' room at the magistrates court, stating that custody cases, including trials, were going to be held at Leeds from a date in January.

"There was no consultation and we had no input into the decision making," said Mr Petherbridge.

"Families who would normally bob down to their local court to support their nearest and dearest, are now going to have to travel to Leeds.

"For people on low budgets it has cost implications. Witnesses will also have to travel to Leeds at additional expense."

Mr Petherbridge has heard there was a target date of January 9 for knocking down the old cells.

Another Bradford solicitor, Raj Kumar, said: "We have been told that any case where a defendant is likely to go to custody will go to Leeds. We have been told it will be for four or five weeks, and it is being done because they are knocking down the cells.

"It will have a big impact on sole practitioners like myself, because we can't be in two cities at the same time."

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesman claimed the solicitors' information was incorrect, but referred the Telegraph & Argus to the Council.

Council leader David Green said he was not aware of cases being moved to Leeds, but added that was a matter for the courts and MoJ.

He said there had also been cabling which had not been anticipated, had been discovered on the court site, but said that was not uncommon.

He added: "We are in the hands of the utilities who are coming in and doing the work. I don't think any delay will be significant. As I understand it, they are trying to reschedule other work around it."

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "The contractor's current construction programme shows that the new cells and vehicle van dock entrance will be completed by the end of March 2015 and following this the demolition of the Tyrls building will commence subject to planning."

MORE TOP STORIES