THE Lord Chancellor is being asked to consider using Monmouth's Shire Hall once again for court hearings.

Gary Whitcombe, (pictured) a Monmouth town councillor, has written to Lord Irvine asking him to reverse the decision to close Monmouth county court, in Market Hall, and to consider reopening the magistrates court.

He believes both could be situated in the Shire Hall. Lord Irvine announced the closure of the county court from April, following public consultation and an in-depth evaluation of the court by the Courts Service.

He said the current accommodation at the Monmouth court is of extremely poor standard, expensive to maintain for the low level of business conducted and is not accessible by people with disabilities.

Arrangements have been made for cases to be heard in High Trees, Chepstow and administrative work is to carried out in other courts.

But Mr Whitcombe says Monmouth's population has "vastly increased" in recent years and he is "very worried" about the effects the closure of the Monmouth court will have on local people.

In his letter he said: "Public transport in this part of the UK is very infrequent and the fairly good rail link was axed. Consequently it will be virtually impossible for people living here to attend courts in Hereford, Newport, Gloucester and Pontypool at reasonable time without considerable hardship and expense."

Mr Whitcombe told the Argus he believes the Shire Hall would be a good place to have the courts as it can provide room for many people and has other facilities available. He said: "There are toilets and there are public telephones outside. There's everything there and with a little bit of work disabled access could be provided."

A spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's department said Mr Whitcombe would receive a response to his letter in due course.

As to the issue of the magistrates courts she said: "The decision as to how many courts there are is a matter for the magistrates court committee. It's not a decision we can get involved in."