Proposals to close Bingley Courthouse - which handles Keighley cases - on Saturdays have been approved.

The move comes despite opposition from police, councillors and lawyers who believe it will throw the justice system into chaos across Bradford.

The West Riding Magistrates Courts Committee has approved the plans to shut Bingley magistrates Court on Saturdays and Bank Holidays and shift the business to Bradford for a trial period until the end of the year.Critics say it will overload Bradford Magistrates Court, force solicitors, defendants and witnesses to travel an extra 30 miles for no reason, add to pollution and cost a fortune in legal aid.

But Clerk to the Justices David Chandler, who proposed the idea, claims it was due to a lack of work in Bingley on Saturdays and Bank Holidays.

Mr Chandler says the court has sat 13 times from January 1 to April 4 this year, the longest sitting being 70 minutes and the shortest ten minutes. Thirty-two defendants appeared, of which 17 were arrested at Keighley, 14 at Shipley and one at Bingley.

He said there had been much publicity about his proposal, but despite that no-one had contacted him to express concern or even discuss the matter.

Stuart Baker of the West Riding Magistrates Courts Committee said the plans were approved at the half-yearly Bench meeting in Bingley Magistrates Court.

""There was substantial discussion about the issue and it was decided that there would be a combined sitting at Bradford for the remainder of this year on Saturdays and Bank Holidays," said Mr Baker.

""This situation will then be reviewed by the Bench. The magistrates realised that there were problems finding clerks to serve in Bingley at weekends."

Keighley solicitor Keith Blackwell attacked the decision, predicting the extra burden of cases would cause chaos at Bradford Magistrates Court.

""It's going to cause appalling problems - all the people from Bingley are going to be sent to Bradford Magistrates Court on Saturdays and will spend most of the day hanging around," said Mr Blackwell. ""It's going to turn it into a full day's sitting and cost the legal aid board a fortune.

""There should have been wider discussion on this matter. There are deeper issues here. It shows that power is ebbing away from the local magistrates and going to the bureaucrats.

""They say it's not about saving money but it will pass the buck on to other budgets. It's going to cost the taxpayer a lot more money. It's entirely wrong and will cause inconvenience and confusion with prisoners taken to different locations.

""It's also very unfortunate that the meeting to make the decision took place on Maundy Thursday, when many people would have gone on holiday and many Christian magistrates would have been at church. Nine months down the road it may be harder to argue against the move.

""I can't understand why it is happening because all the clerks have said they are happy to work Saturdays and bank holidays at Bingley."

The closure had been described as "the first step on a slippery slope' by West Yorkshire Police and was also condemned by local councillors.

Labour councillor Jim Flood, who represents Bingley, said it would mean higher costs all round, more pollution and more time wasting. He claimed the closure had obviously not been thought through properly because everyone seemed to be against it.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.