A 20-year-old man has become Britain's youngest magistrate.

The unnamed man, thought to be a DJ of Asian origin, was selected for the North Sussex bench following a Government drive to recruit magistrates who were more representative of the communities they served.

He has already taken part in one sitting and can now serve at courts in his home town of Crawley as well as Haywards Heath and Horsham.

A spokesman for the Department of Constitutional Affairs said: "There are various criteria that they have to conform to and one of those is maturity.

"I think you can argue that a 20-year-old may have as much maturity as a 40-year-old in some circumstances.

"There is a general ongoing campaign to try increasing diversity in the judicial system and magistrates so it is not all middle-aged or retired people."

Alan Tait, chairman of the North Sussex bench, said the man had completed his initial training and is now able to sit as a magistrate but will continue the training process on the job.

Mr Tait said he believed the man was still 19 when he was sworn in at Chichester Crown Court in May along with 15 other new magistrates.

He said: "He was certainly 19 when he was interviewed.

"The selection process is such that they have to meet very certain criteria. There are a lot of boxes to tick and he is no more spectacular than the others."

Mr Tait admitted there had been eyebrows raised when the decision was taken to reduce the minimum age to become a magistrate from 27 to 18 last year.

He said: "I certainly heard people say: 'Oh gosh, it is very young. Do you think they are going to be experienced enough?"'

But he added: "If they meet the criteria, which are fairly strict in terms of being able to answer things with maturity and to be able to do reasoning exercises and so on, yes they fit the bill."

Francis Maude, Conservative MP for Horsham, said: "I think it's less about age than qualities.

"If he is a responsible man, and I am sure he is, then I think it's very helpful."

In October 2003, a high-profile campaign to recruit younger magistrates was launched after it was revealed that fewer than four per cent of JPs were under 40 and more than eight out of 10 were over 50. Among other recent young recruits as magistrates have been a 21-year-old single mother and a 24-year-old man, both in Telford.