THE doors have closed for the last time at Leigh Magistrates Court.

And on the final day court staff and magistrates past and present held a farewell party in the Chapel Street building.

The afternoon send-off marked the end of more than a century of local justice in the town and an 18 month Keep Our Court campaign, led by your Journal, which was strongly supported by the majority of local people who will now have to travel to Wigan for hearings.

Chairman of Leigh bench, Dennis Dunn said he didn't want the party to resemble a wake, but instead to be a celebration of the past and a vision of the future.

He said: "We had no intention of leaving the town quietly. A day like this is a day of sentiment of the place and the people."

But he insisted it was people not surroundings which matter. He said: " I believe it is the people who make a court.

"The culture and the character of the court is embedded in the people, not the place.

"The boundaries of local justice may have changed but the concept of local justice is worth preserving -- let's do just that."

Long serving magistrate, Barbara Finney thanked Mr Dunn for his enormous energy, sensitivity and vision and said: "We will survive in Wigan as a new venture, but we remain as ourselves -- The Leigh Bench."

A tribute was also paid to veteran freelance reporter Clifford Cook, who covered cases there since the court opened, and who was present at the beginning of closure celebrations.

Mr Dunn said: "This is not the most palatial court in Britain, but people have developed an empathy and rarely complain about the surroundings."

Three court rooms have been set aside at the impressive Wigan courthouse on Darlington Street to deal solely with cases which would have been dealt with at Leigh.

Although the bench has admitted the facilities are better at Wigan, the concern is the inconvenience of the travel for Leigh people, especially for those reliant on public transport. Legal services manager, Brian Hartley said: "It is going to be very difficult for a lot of people and with the school traffic and rush hour traffic, it will be a struggle for some people to get there for 9.45 am.

"But we will try to look at this positively, we will go to Wigan, do a professional job and show them how it's done."

Clerk to the justices, Jim Haydock said: "It's the end of an era. I think it is a sad day in terms of the community as it had its own court with its own bench.

"But we have to look at it as a new beginning. We will remain 'The Leigh Bench', under a new roof."

Magistrate Les Smith took photographs of the court at the end of the ceremony, and these were sold to guests for £10 each -- with all money going to help Children In Need.