ANGER is growing at the proposed closure of one of North Yorkshire's magistrates' courts.

Richmond Tory MP Rishi Sunak has become the latest to lodge his formal opposition to the move to shut Northallerton court.

In his response to a consultation on the plan to transfer its work to York, Skipton, Harrogate and Teesside, the MP said the Ministry of Justice’s plan did not take sufficient account of the rurality of the area the court currently covers.

He said many defendants, victims and witnesses would be seriously disadvantaged by the time and distances involved in reaching the other courts and that Northallerton, with "modest" running costs of £140,000, was understood to be the only one in the county to be fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act.

The ten-week consultation on the proposal closes at the end of March and it is expected the county council will shortly submit its objection to the proposal.

Police and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan has also voiced her opposition.