The Bar Council is to crack down on chambers found to be exploiting pupil barristers, it was announced at last weekend's conference.

The statement from the bar's leadership came in response to a complaint from the conference floor by a pupil who claimed that she had spent her own money on an errand to a court on behalf of a senior barrister in her chambers.

The Bar Council chairman, Matthias Kelly QC, was furious, saying: 'I have recently written to every head of chambers in the country explaining what the consequences will be for these chambers.

We will stick those who do this on a discretionary charge.'

He said that a pupil monitoring board - currently being conducted by Guy Mansfield QC - will ask pupil barristers about this issue.

He added: 'Where there is a pattern of chambers using and abusing young pupils we cannot tolerate it.'

Geoffrey Vos QC, a member of the Bar Council's professional standards committee, said the council's professional monitoring board would hold heads of chambers responsible if they were taking advantage of pupils.

He said: 'This is something that no one at the bar will tolerate.'

Bruce Houlder QC, a member of the bar's equal opportunities committee, told delegates that the criminal bar is having difficulties recruiting pupils because of funding.

He said: 'There is a real problem with the future of the criminal bar, the reality is that there is a diminution of quality of applicant.

There is a worry that the quality of applicant will diminish over the next ten years.

We can't all be expected to work for nothing...

we've got to the point where the criminal solicitors have been squeezed until their pips squeak - we are going to be next.'

Meanwhile, responding to criticism from the floor that the Bar Council was not making the government listen to its problems in relation to funding, Mr Kelly said: 'I can articulate your case but I can't force people to listen.

I'm afraid that when the council speaks, the government does not tremble.'

Courtenay Griffiths QC, the chairman of the bar's public affairs committee, said: 'This complaint is predicated on the fact that the prime minister cannot hear us, but...

at the end of the day this government is calling us fat cats because the chancellor [of the exchequer] hangs like a spectre over everything that this government does.

It suits their purpose to mislead the public because it is anxious to cut back the legal aid budget.'

Jeremy Fleming