Concerns have been raised over the court services’ ability to deal quickly enough with domestic violence cases.

Police and domestic violence workers have said cases are getting delayed because the courts are too busy – which is putting victims through hell.

Sussex Police Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said magistrates’ courts struggled with a rise in cases over Christmas and New Year as the force cracked down on abusers.

She told the police and crime commissioner, Katy Bourne, who also chairs the county’s criminal justice board, that delays were a “significant problem” over that time, despite additional court slots planned in advance.

She said: “The courts have been enormously helpful but in practice what that meant was that having done all that great work and having presented great evidence, we were then having to perhaps bail an offender to the middle of February. “ A criminal justice independent domestic violence advisor for Brighton domestic abuse charity Rise told The Argus the lack of court slots was a serious problem.

She said it had snowballed since the closure of Lewes and Mid Sussex magistrates’ courts in 2011 and 2012, and now that domestic violence cases were no longer routinely clustered together in one court.

The advisor, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of her work, said: “What is happening now is they are triple-booking on the expectation that someone will change their plea. So if no-one changes their plea the court has to decide which one is a priority.

“They try and prioritise domestic violence cases but if, for example, it is up against a shoplifting matter that has been adjourned four or five times, that has to be a priority.”

She added: “There is a lot of anxiety, particularly if children are involved, and it can give the defendant time to work on them.”

Plans are in place to improve the speed and efficiency of magistrates' courts.