ONE of Runcorn’s MPs says he is ‘shocked and angry’ after learning of an arson attack on the town’s former magistrates’ court.

Six fire engines attended the disused court building on Second Avenue about 8pm on Monday, December 13.

Cheshire Police confirmed the incident was being treated as arson.

The news comes just over two weeks since officers discovered a cannabis farm on the premises, which is next door to Runcorn Police Station and close to Shopping City.

A 20-year-old suspect has been charged with production of a Class B drug in connection with the find.

Mr Amesbury, whose Weaver Vale constituency incorporates areas of east Runcorn, says he is ‘shocked and angry’, both with the culprits behind the latest incident, but also at how the site has been allowed to become so run-down.

The Labour MP said: “Since 2010, the Government has closed nearly 300 courts and 667 police stations.

“That includes Halton Magistrates’ Court, which was shut by the Tories in 2017 and sold on but has remained empty.

“From being a court of justice, the premises recently traded places to become a cannabis farm. Now it has gone up in flames in a suspected arson attack.

“Whoever started this fire is completely irresponsible, and it’s fortunate there were no injuries.

“I would urge anyone with information to help police catch the offenders, but you could not make it up – this is law and order under the Tories.”

He added: “In a further twist of irony, the deal done as part of the Ministry of Justice restructure means if the building gets resold within a certain period, a proportion of the profit goes to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

“So, this is also what ‘levelling up’ looks like under the Tories. What a bunch of charlatans.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Cheshire Police online quoting IML 1155347.

Details can also be provided anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.