Lancaster’s historic Crown Court, sited within the city's castle and unused for criminal hearings since 2019, faces permanent closure. HM Courts & Tribunals Service has proposed that crime hearings continue to be heard in Preston Crown Court while Lancaster remains available for civil hearings.

A consultation into the proposals is now open. In a foreword, Jane Wignall, delivery director of HMCTS North West said: ‘Lancaster Crown Court resides within the Lancaster Castle complex and does not offer modern and flexible accommodation and has significant issues with security and accessibility. These issues cannot be resolved due to the listed status of the building and because the castle complex operates as a tourist attraction.

‘I would urge all local court users and stakeholders to consider this proposal and respond to the consultation so that we can consider your views before making a final decision on the future of the court.’

Referring to criminal cases being heard in Preston she said journey times and the impact on court users and staff ‘have been carefully considered’ .

Property costs relating to Lancaster Crown court were around £211,000 in 2023/24. Closing the court would ‘allow for savings through reduced operational costs’, the proposal document said, adding that the court had a very low level of use before closure in 2019 and posed an ‘unacceptable security risk’.

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Lancaster Crown court is within a 12th century castle, which is primarily a tourist attraction. Its two cells have been decommissioned as they do not meet current safety standards.

During its last year sitting in 2018/19, the Crown court sat for 68 hours out of a possible 2,415. It sat for a further 36.5 hours for county court work. The workload hours represented an hourly utilisation of 4%

During the same period, Preston combined court sat for 11,823 out of a possible 17,925 hours, representing an hourly utilisation of 66%. During 2023/24 financial year, Preston combined court sat for a total of 13,213 out of a possible 17,430 hours, representing an hourly utilisation of 76%.

The proposal document states: ‘Our capacity analysis has shown that there remains sufficient capacity at Preston Crown Court to absorb the small amount of work previously heard at Lancaster Crown Court.’

The consultation closes on 2 July.

 

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