POTENTIAL jurors are not being stood down yet, despite no trials taking place at Bradford Crown Court due to the coronavirus outbreak.

People across the district are still receiving summons letters which tell the recipient they have been selected for jury duty at the Exchange Square court.

One such letter, seen by the Telegraph & Argus, instructs the potential juror to attend Bradford Crown Court on a date in May and was issued after the country-wide lock down began.

The standard letter warns that the person must reply to the summons and must turn up on the date proposed, otherwise they are at risk of committing a criminal offence.

However, the Government announced at the end of last month that only a certain number of priority courts would be open for essential face-to-face hearings, consolidating the work of courts and tribunals into fewer buildings.

This was in line with public health advice and is intended to maintain the safety of all in the courts.

Bradford Crown Court was designated a "staffed court" which means that staff and judges will work from the building, but it will not be open to the public.

But crucially, it means that jury trials will not be taking place there for the time being. Instead these staffed courts will support video and telephone hearings, progress cases without hearings and ensure continued access to justice.

Other courts have been temporarily closed and work there suspended.

The temporary changes, designed in partnership between HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the judiciary will help maintain a core justice system focused on the most essential cases.

They will also ensure effective social distancing for all court users and for cleaning and security work to be focused on fewer buildings.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed to the Telegraph & Argus that jurors are typically called nine weeks ahead of their expected daye of service, meaning that the current aragements are expected to change during that time.

"Although a court may be designated as suspended, at this stage we cannot say that the services of the juror will definitely not be required, so we are not yet standing down jurors.

"We are updating people who have been summoned during the period between summons and service to confirm the position to them and we will continue to do so.

"We are asking jurors not to attend court on the date they have been summoned for unless we contact them and ask them to do so."

When the changes were announced, the Lord Chief Justice said:"An extraordinary amount of hard work has gone into keeping our justice system functioning. Technology is being used creatively to ensure that many cases can continue. Not everything can be dealt with remotely and so we need to maintain functioning courts.

"These temporary adjustments to how we use the court estate will help ensure that we can continue to deal with work appropriately in all jurisdictions whilst safeguarding the well-being of all those who work in and visit the courts."

The measures came into effect from Monday, March 30, and are to be kept in place for as long as necessary to comply with government and public health advice. They will be reviewed regularly.