Legal services in Yorkshire 'threatened with closure'

Legal services in Yorkshire, from advice providers to magistrates' courts, are under threat from the paring back of the Ministry of Justice's budget, it has been stated.

Writing in the Yorkshire Post, Graham Stowe joins other experts in decrying the reduction in legal services he says will come about if the government goes through with the proposed austerity measures.

Describing the cuts as "savage", he claims soon people's postcodes will determine whether they can access a solicitor for assistance with incidents such as personal injury in the workplace.

The critic agues a dozen magistrates' and county courts in the region could also potentially close and says the move will put unnecessary strain on police and community services.

Other northern areas are protesting possible cutbacks, as Stuart Collingham of the Lincolnshire Law Society argued the proposed savings could leave some areas of the country "with little or no provision".