Thame's is one of three county magistrates courts which could face the axe under new plans to cut costs.

Serious under-use of some courtrooms and the extensive renovations needed on many buildings has led Thames Valley Magistrates Courts Service to propose a radical overhaul of the current system in Oxfordshire.

Under the proposals, which are currently out to consultation, Thame Magistrates Court would close, and the axe would hang over Wantage and Didcot, with a decision on their possible closure being taken at a later date.

It is estimated that closing Thame courts would save more than £25,000 annually. On average, over the past two years, the town's courts were used for only 28 per cent of the 1,000 annual hours required of all courtrooms by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Cases currently heard at Thame would be transferred to Aylesbury.

Closing Didcot and Wantage would save £26,605 and £13,723 respectively, but would cause more problems with transferring workloads.

A report said: "There is a strong argument for seeking to relocate the work of Wantage given the fact that its workload is only 24 per cent of capacity.

"However, the lack of capacity at Oxford, its parent site, makes this difficult."

If Didcot was closed, cases normally heard there would normally be transferred to Oxford. But the city court was running at 88 per cent of capacity in the three months up to the end of March, leaving very little room for an increased workload.

Didcot's future will be more secure if a £185,930 bid for improvements including separation of adult and youth custody areas, increased number of cells and improved custody facilities, is granted.

The strategy lists only one argument for keeping Thame - the local service it provides. Eight arguments for closure are listed, including lack of adequate interview rooms, a pending £76,623 bill for building improvements and the low workload.

The document has gone out to all agencies affected by the courts service, including bench chairmen, county Lord Lieutenants, chief executives of social services departments, the Crown Prosecution Service and Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Sir Charles Pollard for comments before October 26.