A KENT town's courthouse is to be brought out of mothballs to hear criminal cases in a bid to clear a massive backlog of trials.

A rash of not-guilty pleas before North Kent magistrates means up to double the national average of cases wait for trials.

There is a backlog of about six months before a criminal trial can be completed.

That compares with a national average of anything between 12 and 20 weeks, and a Kent average of 17 weeks.

Now the county court, in King Street, Gravesend, is to be brought back into use for criminal cases in a bid to cut delays and meet national guidelines.

Malcolm Dodds, clerk to the justices at North Kent Magistrates, including Medway and Dartford, said: "We have a higher than expected not guilty plea rate, which means we have a large number of trials."

* See the Gravesend Messenger for the full story.