THE closure of an Oxfordshire court will heap pressure on an ‘already heavily over-burdened and struggling system’, a lawyer has warned.

Plans revealed by the Government on Thursday would see the closure of Banbury Magistrates’ and County Court, with the caseload transferred to Oxford.

But Andrew Nellist, a partner in the family team at Royds Withy King in Oxford, said: “We already have significant concerns about the working of the justice system.

“It is taking a long time to go in front of a judge, there’s a high turnover of staff and we are finding huge amounts of problems with delays and mistakes.

“It’s a matter of individuals having too much to do.

“The system is already at breaking point and this will inevitably lead to further delays and increased costs.

“There will eventually be a final straw that breaks the camel’s back and we are not far away from that.”

HM Courts and Tribunal Service has started a 10-week consultation on the plans, which it said were necessary because the Banbury court is ‘significantly underused’ and the buildings are in need of repair.

During the 2016/17 financial year, the court sat for a total of 2,211 hours compared to the 5,411 hours sat at Oxford Magistrates.

In announcing the planned changes, Justice Minister Lucy Frazer promised a £1bn investment to ‘modernise the justice system’, making it ‘more convenient and easier to use.’

She said that because of an increased use of digital services, such as using video links, it was necessary to ‘consider the wider role and need for court buildings.’

But Mr Nellist warned the changes would force vulnerable people to travel further distances.

He suggested that if the Banbury court was thought to be under-used, cases could have been transferred from Oxford to relieve the burden there.

The lawyer, who has practised for 12 years, said it was the worse situation he had seen in his career, with three month waits for trial dates that used to take three weeks.

Kostas Panagiotou, a delivery manager at Thames Valley Victim Support, said the changes may exacerbate ‘an extremely difficult time’ for victims.

He said they could place people under greater strain because of the need to consider taking time off work, finding childcare and making travel arrangements. To respond to the consultation visit consult.justice.gov.uk