THE Magistrates Court in Oldbury is set to be closed as part of the Government's cuts agenda.

The Ministry of Justice has earmarked the Oldbury Ringway court for closure after revealing it is only being used 47 per cent of the time despite costing £407,000 a year to run.

The move will come as a blow to the town with 21 jobs being lost at the court as well as the knock on affects of solicitors and other legal services leaving Oldbury.

The majority of cases will be heard ten miles away in Walsall. The MoJ have estimated the journey between courts as 55 minutes on public transport and 30 minutes in the car, however, defendants and witnesses from elsewhere will have to travel further.

Courts and Tribunals Minister, Shailesh Vara, said: “We are reforming the courts and tribunal service so that it meets the needs of modern day users.

“Access to justice is not just about attending court. As we bring in digital technology for better and more efficient access to justice, fewer people will need to physically be in a court.

“This means that we will need fewer buildings, and with many already underused and in poor quality, now is a good time to review the estate.”

Natalie Ceeney, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service chief executive, added: “Our estate is a significant asset. We currently have a number of surplus buildings and this consultation puts forward proposals on their future.

“As we modernise our service so that fewer people will need to attend a court in person, spending money on unsuitable or rarely used buildings is not good value for money for taxpayers."

The consultation will last for 12 weeks and will close on October 8.

Sandwell Magistrates’ Court is one of four magistrates’ courts in the Black Country along with Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton and deals with criminal court business in the adult and youth courts.

The MoJ consultation document detailing the cuts said: "It is proposed that Sandwell Magistrates’ Court is closed and its workload is primarily transferred to Walsall Magistrates’ Court, which would be able to accommodate the additional work within its current building.

"However, dependant on the geographical location of the customers, some work would move to Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court or Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

"Should Sandwell Magistrates’ Court close it would result in the majority of the workload being moved to a court centre of similar size allowing the court to be more responsive and flexible with the throughput and listing of cases.

The courthouse was purpose built in 1989 and contains five courts, three of which have secure docks and there are eight cells, three of which can accommodate category A prisoners.