AFTER 135 years serving the town, St Helens Borough Magistrates' Bench this month (April) ceases to exist.

In a further step towards centralising the local justice system, Merseyside's four magistrates' benches - St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and Liverpool & Knowsley - merged to form the Merseyside Magistrates' Bench on April 1.

St Helens Magistrates' Court started hearing cases at Liverpool's Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts last June after a hard-fought battle to keep the Corporation Street courthouse operating failed.

On Friday (March 31) around 80 people attended an event marking the end of the borough's bench - which started in 1882 - at the HoneyRose Foundation Function Room on Cotham Street.

Among those present was Dr Jan Prescott, a magistrate from St Helens who has been elected as the chair of the newly-formed combined Merseyside Bench.

Jan said: "Since the closure of St Helens Magistrates' Court last June, defendants and magistrates from St Helens have been required to attend the QEII Combined Court in Liverpool's Derby Square.

"As of April 1, the courts have formally merged."

Of Friday's event, she said: "Magistrates and staff, both past and present, gathered to say goodbye to the St Helens Magistrates' Bench.

"It was a wonderfully informal occasion, celebrating the existence of magistrates in the borough since 1882.

"Guests enjoyed the bar, buffet and disco, with gifts and certificates of long service being presented to retiring magistrates."

A campaign to retain the family court at the Corporation Street courthouse was successful and the building now houses the Combined St Helens and Warrington County Courts.