COURT chiefs want to save £100,000 by scrapping Saturday and bank holiday courts in Burnley and sending suspects to Blackburn.

The courts Service is looking at the changes, involving people in custody from Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

The move has been met with caution by police chiefs, who fear it could drive up costs and have an adverse effect on the administration of justice. A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said: "In any change there would be no sense making savings on one side of the criminal justice system if we were incurring additional cost in another part.

"Account has to be taken of the impact of such a move. For example the need to transport charged or refused bail individuals at short notice, the reduction in the facility for officers to brief Crown Prosecution Service lawyers face to face, requirements for officers to travel further to give evidence, movement of files and paperwork etc."

Liz Jones, a spokesman for GSL, the contractors who transport prisoners to court, said staff contracts would have to be reviewed if the new system was implemented.

The Courts Service said it was required to make "significant" savings to help balance books and is in consultation with court staff.

Blackburn Inspector Gary Dunnagan said: "We don't envisage it to be a problem as we won't have to accommodate prisoners they will come direct from the custody suite. It will be more of an issue in terms of the court administration and transporting it over to Blackburn."

The proposals will be discussed at today's Lancashire Police Authority meeting.