Mandeville courthouse staff forced to work under tent

Mandeville, Manchester:
The staff at the Mandeville Courthouse are now worried they will have to wait for a prolonged period for a proper temporary courthouse, following a fire that gutted sections of the courthouse earlier this month.

Members of staff have had to work under a tent just outside the damaged courthouse over the last two weeks. The courthouse was damaged by fire on November 7.

According to a court staffer who asked not to be named, the initial plan was to have them use the Lay Magistrates Building on Grove Road temporarily, but it appears this will no longer be the case.

“We have to do everything out here in the open; deal with clients, have our lunches, use portable toilets, and this is really worse than the conditions we were enduring in the courts office,” the worker lamented.

With no phone lines available and only face-to-face contact with the public, workers say they have been seriously inconvenienced.

The members of staff are not the only ones impacted by the current arrangements as attorneys and their clients have had to make adjustments to their schedules.