Sussex magistrates courts are the most "ineffective" in England and Wales for trials going ahead, a damning report has revealed.

Four out of every ten trial days had to be postponed last year, causing agonising delays for defendants, witnesses and victims.

A new date had to be found for a trial to take place, causing a backlog in the court system.

The 39.6 per cent of trials classified as "ineffective" ranks Sussex bottom of the 43 magistrates courts committees in England and Wales.

According to the annual Business Returns report, the main reason was defendants failing to turn up at court.

However, the delays were also caused by prosecution and defence solicitors not being prepared and their witnesses failing to attend. In a small number of cases, defendants who were being held in prison failed to make it to court.

A further 22.8 per cent of trial dates were "cracked", which means the case did not proceed because the prosecution offered no evidence or the accused changed to a guilty plea.

The total number of cases which went ahead as planned was only 24.5 per cent.

The county's courts were ranked the third worst in England and Wales for the average number of days from a first court listing to the case being concluded. Magistrates took an average of 50 days. In Cumbria - which ranked first -cases were completed in only 17 days. The average was 33 days.

But Sussex had a better record for collecting court fines. The 62 per cent collection rate ranked the county 25 out of 43.

The Government is handing magistrates new powers to try to increase the figure.

Under the plans, fines will no longer be written off after 12 months but will be chased until they are paid. Each court will also have the power to deduct fines from the offenders' pay or benefits if they do not pay up.

A survey carried out for the report revealed 69 per cent of users are satisfied with court facilities in Sussex, just below the 72 per cent average for England and Wales.