THE poorest will be hardest hit by a plan to close one of just two magistrates' courts in Oxfordshire, opponents have warned.

Banbury Magistrates' and County Court was found to be underused by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in the summer and is now earmarked for closure.

It would leave Oxford Magistrates' Court as the only one in the county if the cut goes ahead.

But Cherwell councillors will be asked to back a plan to keep a court open in Banbury because it plays an 'integral' part in the town.

Closing it down would only pile on more work at the already strained Oxford court, a councillor will say.

The cost of running Banbury's Magistrates' Court is about £180,000 a year, according to HMCTS.

Kieron Mallon, a Conservative for Banbury Calthorpe and Easington, will urge his fellow councillors to back a motion formally supported by the council's leader Barry Wood.

Mr Mallon will call for councils to 'explore the options of utilising public buildings' around the town to 'support locally administered justice'.

He will say at a council meeting next Tuesday: "The present proposals will hit the poorest especially hard, as the current rules will prevent local solicitors in Banbury from representing legally aided clients."

That, he will say, is because of 'archaic rules which require such firms to be located in close proximity to the court where the hearing is to take place.'

Other residents from south Warwickshire and south Northamptonshire will also need to visit other courts.

The HMCTS hopes to save as much as £200m a year from 2023/24 after a raft of court closures and other measures.

Other courts included in a consultation at the same time as Banbury will also shut. They include Blackfriars Crown Court and Wandsworth County Court, both in London, and Chorley and Fleetwood magistrates' courts, in the north-west.