Magistrates have unveiled a notice board outside their closed courtrooms to commemorate the history of local justice in Kingston.

The sign, placed near the court’s Guildhall basement entrance, explains the background of magistrates in the borough, stretching back to royal charters in the 15th century until the Government closed it last month.

Magistrate Graham Forrester said: “We just felt people coming to the town and doing tours would want to know this is where the magistrates’ court was.

“We wanted people to know why it was closed and who closed it, but right at the end of the sign we wanted to remind people that it was thought when it started that it would go on forever.

“People can draw their own conclusions.”

Alan Mason, a court usher who had transferred to the Wimbledon court, is also a town centre guide, and now includes the court in his tours.

A number of Kingston magistrates have also transferred to Wimbledon, where they have heard cases from across the region.

Mr Forrester said they had been made very welcome by the existing magistrates there, but they were still adjusting to the different geography and less space in their retiring rooms to consider their judgements.

The courtrooms and their fittings have listed building status, and Kingston Council is currently deciding how to use them since the court heard its last case on Thursday, June 30.

More than 4,200 people signed a Surrey Comet petition to save the court