Magistrates say they have little to do because of the massive rise in number of on-the-spot fines

Magistrates and youth court sittings are being cancelled because the rise in on-the-spot fines means there are too few criminals facing formal proceedings.

Courts in the Midlands are cutting the number of hours they sit each week because of their 'reducing workload', as more and more offenders are issued with a caution or fixed penalty notices and fines.

Critics have warned that criminals who would once have faced a court appearance are benefiting from 'soft justice'.

They say the centuries-old role of magistrates in Britain's justice system is being gravely undermined.

The Government insists that dealing with 'low-level' offenders frees up the police and courts to focus on more serious criminals.

A leaked letter sent from the Staffordshire justices' clerk to all magistrates in the county recently states: 'As a result of a reducing workload directly attributable to increased use of fixed penalties and cautions by the police and Crown Prosecution Service, a number of courts have had to be cancelled each week at each of our courthouses.'

Cautions and on-the-spot fines overtook court convictions two years ago as the most common outcome for criminals caught by the police.

Last week figures revealed that even violent offenders are now more likely to be given a caution or a fixed penalty fine. Labour introduced the penalty notice for disorder to deal with low-level yobbery, but has since expanded the use of the punishments to include offences such as shoplifting up to a value of 200 and criminal damage up to 500.

If offenders admit their guilt and pay the fine of up to 80 promptly, the matter is dropped and they do not receive a criminal record.

The use of such penalties in England and Wales leapt by 37 per cent from 146,500 in 2005 to 201,200 in 2007, with most for drunk and disorderly, or causing harassment, alarm or distress.

In Staffordshire, use of penalty notices rose from 1,450 in 2004 to 3,261 in 2006. Last week a report by Professor Rod Morgan, former chairman of the Youth Justice Board, warned that serious offenders could be diverted away from court hearings, escaping with lesser forms of punishment.

The number of assault cases where police hand out a caution has more than trebled in five years to more than 118,000 - including a near- doubling of those for the most serious violent attacks.

The Magistrates Association said yesterday said there is anecdotal evidence of similar reductions in courts' workload in other parts of the UK.

Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said: 'The increasing use of penalty notices is leading to a system of soft justice.

'When offenders who should go before the courts are able to escape with just a fine, justice is being undermined.'