The government's much-lauded criminal case preparation project is in danger of having the rug pulled out from under it because defence solicitors will 'get militant' and refuse to participate if proposals to reform legal aid go ahead, it emerged this week.

The project - a major plank of the government's criminal justice reforms - focuses on better case management, including front loading advice at the early stages to increase efficiency.

It is currently being piloted in Bedfordshire, Essex, Greater Manchester, London, north Wales, the west midlands and west Yorkshire.

Launching the scheme in June, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, said the aim was to 'ensure [the system] rewards early and proper preparation'.

A Department for Constitutional affairs (DCA) spokeswoman said it would be consulting shortly on fee structures for post-charge advice under the scheme, with the aim of 'incentivising early and better quality preparation'.

She said it hoped to reach a decision on fees for magistrates and Crown Court work by the end of the year, with the aim of piloting the new structures in 2004.

But Franklin Sinclair, a partner in leading Manchester-based criminal law specialist firm Tuckers and a consultant to the pilots, said the project was now in jeopardy as it did not gel with wide-reaching DCA proposals to restrict work at the police station or early court hearings.

'The success of this project is subject to us being paid for the work done, but if these proposals go ahead we will get militant,' he warned.

'There will be no more free work done on cases and no more helping the court for free, either.'

Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association and chairman of the Law Society's access to justice committee, agreed there would be 'no more Mr Nice Guy'.

He said: 'The DCA wants to save money on legal aid and has chosen quick fixes, but at the same time it wants to speed up and improve the system.

There is obvious conflict, and it's regrettable that solicitors are being used as pawns in that battle.'

Cindy Barnett, deputy chairwoman of the Magistrates Association, predicted that the proposals could also backfire on the work of the courts by hindering the effectiveness of first early hearings.

The concerns come in the same week that the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux annual conference heard from its chief executive David Harker that the government's 'inexcusable' legal aid policy was 'auditing the system out of existence'.

Mr Harker said examples of 'advice deserts' included Dorset, where there is only one criminal law specialist firm, Eastbourne and areas of Kent, where there are no housing solicitors and Woking, where there are no family firms.

Echoing Mr Harker's concerns, Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva pointed out that current expenditure on legal aid would fund the health service for just 14 days.

'It is unacceptable that so many people are being denied access to justice,' she added.

By Paula Rohan