GOVERNMENT court closures could deny sexual abuse victims justice, Bolton South-East MP Yasmin Qureshi has warned a government justice minister.

She tackled Chris Philp on the issue in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Ms Qureshi told him: "The government has undertaken an unprecedented sale of courts, which has made giving evidence in court far more difficult for the many victims of crime who now have to travel much further to have their day in court.

"The fact is that victims of sexual and other physical abuse are already reluctant to come to court, and this plays into that.

"Will you agree to an independent assessment of the impact of these court closures ?"

Mr Philp replied: "Access-to-justice considerations are extremely important. Before any court is earmarked for closure, there is an extremely thorough consultation process, and if courts are due to close in the future, a similarly thorough consultation process will be gone through."