COUNCILLORS fighting to save Kennet's last remaining courthouse have spoken out in fury at the decision to close it.

The fate of the magistrates' court in Devizes was sealed this week by the decision of Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine to give the green light for a new court complex in Salisbury.

All cases normally dealt with by magistrates from a temporary building in Devizes' Northgate Gardens, which opened in 1987, will be transferred to Sailsbury in late 2005 or early 2006 when the new court opens in Wilton Road.

Offenders, witnesses, police officers, probation officers, solicitors and even publicans wanting licences for special events will have to make the 25-mile trip across the Plain. Those without their own transport will have to shell out £5.10 for a return bus fare.

Local councillors have been unified in their condemnation of the decision.

Mayor of Devizes, Coun Paula Winchcombe, said: "It's appalling that another service has been lost from Devizes.

"The town council has consistently objected to closure. The Government talks about justice being delivered locally but how is this local? It will result in more inconvenience in terms of loss of earnings and police time.

"People either won't turn up or turn up late and I think it's going to lengthen the process."

The closure of Devizes courthouse will mean that no justice will be delivered in Kennet district.

District council leader Coun Chris Humphries is angry about the decision. He said: "Nothing can replace Kennet magistrates' court except another court in Kennet.

"But the decision has been made and we have been told it is a fait accompli.

"This is post code justice. The people who have made this decision have no idea about living in a rural area. They all live in London where they can hop on a bus outside their door or go down the road to a tube station."

Even Peter Chalke, leader of Wiltshire County Council, whose own Salisbury ward will benefit from the new court complex, was angry that Wiltshire will be left with only two courthouses, at Chippenham and Salisbury.

He said: "Although I am naturally delighted that Salisbury is at last to get a proper court, I am at a loss to understand the decision to close Devizes and Trowbridge.

"I thought the county council had made a very good case for keeping them open. For a Government that says it is in favour of more and closer local services, it is an idiotic decision.

"The largest inland county in England will be left with only two courts. That's a disgrace. A lot of cost will be thrown onto ordinary people."

But Shirley Hatt, the vice chairman of the Wiltshire Magistrates Courts Committee, said: "This is not something the committee did lightly, but the number of courtrooms in the county is well over what we require.

"Salisbury is a big conurbation and doesn't have proper courthouse facilities. What is planned will be among the best in the country.

"Of course it is a shame that there will be no local justice being dispensed in Kennet and we can't pretend to be happy about it, but we are constrained by the purse strings and the Government says this is the best way forward.

"We will endeavour to make sure that no one is inconvenienced."

The last cases to be heard in Trowbridge will be completed by the end of September. Business at Devizes will continue as usual until the new courthouse in Salisbury is fully operational.