CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to keep fighting to save Sedgemoor Magistrates' Court after the Ministry of Justice confirmed it wanted to close it.

The MoJ confirmed in December that 93 magistrates' courts in England and Wales would be closed, including Sedgemoor's court in Bridgwater, in a move which aims to save £41million.

However, a steering group which is fighting the closure of Sedgemoor Magistrates' Court has written to the MoJ, branding the consultation into the future of the courts as “flawed”.

Frank Clegg, chairman of the bench at Sedgemoor Magistrates' Court, said: “We had a meeting and we are going to talk to Her Majesty's Courts Service and take their proposals to bits.

“I don't think they expected anyone to appeal, but we are going to fight them.”

Mr Clegg said magistrates would consider legal action if the MoJ did not reconsider its decision.

Fellow magistrate Peter Reed told the Mercury the MoJ's explanation for the closures had “substantial errors”.

Local magistrates believe the savings predicted by the MoJ are unrealistic, and that the huge population rise predicted for Bridgwater, and the sparsity of public transport in rural areas in Sedgemoor, has not been fully taken into account.

Sedgemoor magistrates also point out that Taunton Deane Magistrates' Court, which is due to take on Sedgemoor's workload, is almost at full capacity already.