Cornish court sitting days reduced

Truro Crown Court deals with the county's most serious criminal cases

Cornwall's most senior criminal court is sitting for fewer days as part of government efforts to reduce spending.

Truro Crown Court is operating for four days a week until March.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said: "While we are bound by a challenging financial inheritance, this government is committed to bearing down on the Crown courts backlog."

It said the new government had increased the total number of Crown court sitting days across England and Wales by 500 "to a total of 106,500 – more than in six out of the last seven years".

It added moves to extend magistrates' powers to hand out longer sentences from six to 12 months would free up about 2,000 days for Crown courts.

The MoJ said the government determined the number of Crown court sitting days it would fund, while the independent judiciary was "responsible for scheduling trials and allocating those sitting days".