Court's late-night opening

The court will open on Friday and Saturday nights

A magistrates' court is to become the first in England and Wales to open for an evening session.

In an effort to keep up with weekend crime, Bow Street magistrates' court in London is to open late on Friday.

The extended opening hours are seen as a way of speeding up the justice system and avoiding a potential backlog of weekend offences.

Bow Street will have evening sessions between 1800 BST and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Cases could be processed faster under the scheme

If successful, extended hours are set to be introduced across the country.

Michael Burrell, of the Lord Chancellor's Department, said: "While courts have sometimes run on into the evening, this is the first time they will be scheduled to do so.

"It is hoped it will give people faster access to the courts, especially for victims and witnesses who will not have to take so much time off work."

The scheme is partly modelled on New York, where the famous Zero Tolerance policy saw a dramatic fall in street crime.

A second pilot scheme in Manchester will see courts open at 0900 BST instead of 1000 BST, with evening sessions between 1600 BST and 2000 BST twice a week.