Sheffield crown and magistrates' courts closed by leak and burst pipe

Urgent cases due to be heard at Sheffield Crown Court have been moved to neighbouring courts

A city's crown court has been forced to close due to a burst water pipe, 10 days after the nearby magistrates' building was shut due to a leak.

Sheffield Crown Court, in West Bar, has been closed since Thursday while engineers work to fix the problem.

The city's magistrates' court, in a separate building on Castle Street, has not been hearing cases since 14 March.

Urgent cases were being heard in nearby courts to minimise delays, a Ministry of Justice (MOJ) spokesperson said.

It is not known when either building will be able to reopen.

Magistrates' courts in England deal with a range of lower-level offences, while jury trials and more serious cases are heard by crown courts.

Earlier this year, it was revealed delays in prosecuting suspected criminals had hit a record high.

Figures showed an average of 708 days between an offence and the completion of a case.

In the three months to September 2021, the average time it took to deal with a crime rose by 15%, up from 620 days.

• Court delays impacting victims of crime - charity

• Criminal prosecution delays hit record 708 days

In February, data analysed by the BBC showed there was a backlog of more than 4,600 cases waiting to go through crown courts in Yorkshire.

The MoJ said courts were regularly reviewed to ensure they were safe places to work.

In 2020-21, HM Courts & Tribunals Service received more than £150m towards building improvements, the department added.