WITNESSES in Wiltshire will be given extra protection from intimidation and more help in accessing Chippenham Magistrates' Court under a new scheme revealed this week.

Solicitor General Harriet Harman met with members of Wiltshire Crown Prosecution Service in Chippenham on Wednesday to launch the Witness Care Unit.

From February, witnesses will be kept apart from defendants and given more support to understand court procedures in a Government move aimed at increasing public confidence in criminal justice.

The new Witness Care Unit will work with the CPS, police forces and Victim Support at Chippenham Magistrates' Court and Swindon Crown Court.

Mrs Harman said it was time for the system to be changed.

"It used to be the case that everybody was expected to find their own way to court and hang around, with nowhere to sit down or have a coffee, with a beady eyed defendant and his six brothers," she said.

"This is not the way things ought to be. We should not subject people to that and we want people to come forward and feel safe and be an important part of the criminal process."

The new unit will work with agencies to provide childcare, help with languages and give support for witnesses with medical problems.

Mrs Harman said the lengths the WCU will go to get witnesses to court can include booking taxis for disabled people and helping with public transport information.

Magistrates will be encouraged to take a more hands-on approach and write to witnesses to inform them of any changes. Communication will also be enhanced to prevent witnesses waiting too long for a court appearance that never happens.

Mrs Harman revealed Wiltshire is one of the highest rated counties in the country with only 15.5 per cent of magistrates' court trials not going ahead and 10 per cent of crown court appearances cancelled.

She said: "We need everybody working together and a system to get people to court. When people are dispersed over a wide county it is always going to be an issue but there is never going to be a right place for a court because what is local for one person is not going to be right for another.

"It is really important that people do turn up to give evidence. It's an important public duty."

The initiative could also mean changes in the layout of courts, with magistrates and judges saying goodbye to changing rooms to provide separate space for witnesses.