It was recently announced that the old Cirencester Magistrates Court is to be reopened as a so called ‘nightingale’ court in order to clear the backlog of cases awaiting justice, writes Robert Heaven.

Before the courts were centralised in 2012 when Cirencester lost its local justice centre, the town had a very busy court.

The “new court” which was opened in 1965 replaced the previous magistrates court in Castle Street.