The Department for Constitutional Affairs has struck a one-year deal with credit reference agency Equifax as part of its drive to track down persistent offenders who have defaulted on court penalties.

Under the agreement, all 42 magistrates' courts committees in England and Wales will have electronic access to Equifax's database of more than 500 million records on individuals in the UK.


Before the introduction of the service this month, magistrates had no means to track down offenders who default on fines, community penalties or suspended sentence supervision.


The new system - which can provide new addresses, telephone numbers and the names of associated individuals - will allow them to pursue individuals who have changed address without telling the courts. It is predicted that court staff will make up to 1.5 million enquiries a year through the service, which will be constantly updated.


Professor Sir Ron De Witt, Court Service chief executive, said one of the major advantages of the database was that courts 'don't have to re-invent the wheel'.


'Courts can tap into an existing resource, making it a cost-effective way of tracing offenders as well as being more efficient,' he added.


Courts minister Christopher Leslie said: 'Magistrates' courts will have access to important intelligence which is not available through any other source.'


Court staff will be trained in how to use the system over a five-week period by IT provider Steria.