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Staff at magistrates’ courts in Mansfield and Nottingham walked out on strike over a computer system which they say is ‘unworkable’.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, including court legal advisers, took the action at 68 courts across England and Wales, protesting against the Common Platform computer system which was introduced this year by HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

The nine-day strike, which began on Saturday, October 22, was due to have taken place sooner, but was postponed after the Queen’s death.

The union said the new computer system has increased the time taken to carry out tasks, affected workers’ health and disrupted the running of the justice system.

There has been disruption all over magistrates' courts in England and Wales with cases adjourned and courts cancelled, often at the last minute.

PCS added it had increased stress among workers, sometimes kept them working until midnight on recording court cases and affected their work-life balance.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “We’ve been left with no choice, but to call strike action.

“Managers are ignoring the evidence in front of them — that Common Platform is simply unworkable.

“It’s adversely affecting our members’ health and their ability to do their jobs and is detrimental to the delivery of justice.”

The union said the introduction of the system had been delayed to allow negotiations to take place, but HMCTS had then imposed it before agreements were reached.

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HMCS said that it was ‘disappointed’ by the strike action and said the scheme was key to modernising the court system.

The strike started a week after criminal barristers in England and Wales voted to end their long-running strike action after the government offered a new pay deal.

A total of 57 per cent of barristers voted in a ballot to accept a 15 per cent pay rise, the Criminal Bar Association said.

Hundreds of trials have been delayed during the action.

It is not clear how quickly the backlog can be reduced.

Barristers, who originally requested a 25 per cent pay rise, said criminal justice was falling apart due to a chronic lack of funding.

The strikes began in June after years of complaints that the system of legal aid - which makes up the bulk of their pay - had been ‘pared to the bone’, resulting in cuts to their income of 35 per cent in the last decade.

Court staff in Mansfield strike over ‘unworkable’ computer system