In an exclusive, the Daily Telegraph says emergency courtrooms will be used after their funding runs out over the comning summer as the number of unheard cases continues to mount.

Many of those include possession cases from landlords whose claims have been held up in backlogs over the past 12 months.

These so-called Nightingale Courts were introduced last summer to hear civil, family and tribunals work as well as non-custodial crime cases. 

Their use was designed to free up room in existing courts to hear other cases, including custodial jury trials, which require cells and secure dock facilities to keep the public, victims and witnesses safe.

The move formed part of government plans to ensure courts recovered from the pandemic as soon as possible and to avoid delays getting criminals behind bars.

The Law Society Gazette reported last month that the backlog of cases overall was around 53,000 despite some 60 Nightingale Courts operating.