PROPOSALS to close Newton Abbot magistrates court have been condemned as 'retrograde' and 'financial nonsense'.

Newton Abbot councillors were virtually united in opposing the plans currently out for consultation. They agreed at Wednesday's council to write to the Ministry of Justice, even though the town council is not an official consultee.

The vote was unanimous, save for Cllr Keith Smith, who abstained.

'It would make a lovely museum,' he observed.

Newton Abbot Magistrates is one of 103 court houses under threat across the country under cost-cutting measures aimed at saving £15.3m a year and achieving one-off savings of £21.5m.

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