Temporary Preston court gets the green light - but secrecy remains over plans

Plans to open makeshift court facilities in a Preston office block have been given the go-ahead.

The government last month applied for permission to temporarily move three Lancashire courts into the Marshall House building on Ringway.

However, as the Lancashire Post revealed at the time, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was prepared to identify only one of those set to be relocated - the Leyland Family Hearing Centre - but not the two others.

Even now that the proposal has been approved by Preston City Council planning chiefs, Whitehall officials are staying tight-lipped about which courts will be rehoused and when - and even whether the move will definitely happen.

The MoJ previously said it was “exploring options” for temporary judicial accommodation in the county while “essential roof repairs” are carried out at a trio of locations. It added that the space would be used only for “lower-risk” cases from the family or magistrates’ courts.

Preston Magistrates' Court stands just yards from Marshall House, on the opposite corner of Lawson Street. The discovery, in 2023, of so-called ‘crumbling concrete’ in its roof makes it an obvious contender for being amongst the three facilities set to switch bases.

However, when approached by the Post, the MoJ once again failed to respond to a request for full details of the now approved plans.

If and when the blueprint is ultimately implemented, four hearing rooms will be created - two on each of the first and third floors of Marshall House - along with judicial rooms, waiting areas and secure corridors. Search facilities, controlled access arrangements, CCTV and panic alarms will also be introduced.

The second floor of the building would also be converted, but the rest of the nine-storey block - which is also home to Preston’s driving test theory centre, firms of solicitors and a training facility - would be able to continue to operate unaffected.

In giving the green light to the proposed overhaul, city council planners concluded that it was in line with local planning policy and would not have “any unacceptable adverse impact”.

It is understood that the roof work required at the existing courts due to be relocated will be undertaken one building after another over a period of years. It is therefore possible that only a single set of court facilities will occupy Marshall House at any one time.

The Post revealed earlier this week that the Leyland Family Hearing Centre was already closed, suggesting it could be the first to be rehoused.

Preston planning officers noted that while no additional parking spaces would be created at the Marshall House site, it is “in close proximity to the existing Law Court establishments, with access to numerous pay and display car parks in the surrounding town centre and…bus routes serving the surrounding area”.