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SUFFOLK MP Richard Spring has hit out at 'further erosion of local justice' after making a visit to Sudbury Magistrates' Court.

Although impressed by the court's operation, Mr Spring has written to Anne Dunford, chairman of the Suffolk Magistrates' Courts Committee about new plans to make magistrates interchangeable. between Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall or Sudbury.

Mr Spring, who fought the closure of Haverhill and Newmarket courts, requested a meeting to discuss the situation.

"The closure of Newmarket and Haverhill had no justification and was a wanton act of destruction against the local criminal justice system," he said.

"Over a period of time, fewer and fewer people will come forward as magistrates, as they will not be serving their own communities."

Richard Kemp, chairman of the Sudbury and Haverhill bench, said magistrates could choose whether to go on the rota to cover all three courts.

(Photo courtesy of the Conservative Party)