COURTS in part of the region are among the best in the country for the number of trials that go ahead on the day they are planned.

Both Teesside magistrates and crown courts are beating the national average when it comes to reducing the number of "ineffective" trials - hearings that have to be aborted or are put back.

Cleveland Chief Constable Sean Price, who chairs the Cleveland Criminal Justice Board, said: "By the term 'ineffective' trial, we mean any instance when a trial cannot go ahead on the day originally planned. Obviously, when that happens it can be frustrating, time wasting and costly for everyone involved.

"There are, of course, many reasons why a trial might have to be delayed or aborted - for example witnesses and defendants not turning up at court, the prosecution not being ready or able to proceed or a variety of administrative reasons."

Statistics for the three months to September last year show the number of ineffective trials in local magistrates' courts stood at 20.3 per cent, compared to 26.1 per cent for the previous three months, while ineffective trials in the Crown Court have been halved over the past two-and-a-half years, from 30 to 15 per cent.

The performance of both courts has been highlighted nationally by Moira Wallace, director-general of the Home Office's criminal justice group.

Teesside has a case progression officer, whose role is to improve the certainty of cases listed for trial or identify reasons why trials cannot go ahead.

Mr Price said: "These latest figures demonstrate that we are making real progress . . . helping to increase public confidence in the way justice is being delivered."