Warwickshire High Sheriff Anna Trye took to a digger to begin knocking down the Newbold Terrace building before builders took over the four-week job.

The court house, which closed in November 2006, is being flattened to make room for the new town's justice centre, due to open in 2010.

SEE THE DIGGER AT WORK HERE

The £43.8 million project will house three magistrates courts, three crown courts, civil courts, the Youth Offending Team and a service to support victims and witnesses.

Warwickshire county court manager Jane Parkin started her career at the site more than 30 years ago recovering money from absent fathers.

She said: "It is very sad because I have done 30 years in this building. It is a momentous day for me.

"The late 1960s building gave us no opportunity to work with what we had. The combination of the magistrates, crown and civil courts will give us more flexibility."

She added: "The facilities at the centre will also be available to people living in the area for neighbourhood watch meetings."

Demolition work at the site is expected to continue until mid-July with the foundations being dug by the end of next month.

The justice centre is the sister site of that which opened in Nuneaton in 2005. It will be finished by the end of 2010 after the original date of spring 2009 was put back.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Holland believes the new centre will improve facilities for the town.

He said: "By bringing all of the agencies under one roof we will be able to speed up the way justice is delivered and allow police to work much more closely with the departments.

"It will also bring a bit more support to victims and witnesses and they are the most important people in all this.

"We appreciate coming to court can be stressful for victims and want to make giving evidence as easy as possible for them."

Project director Richard Lyttle, said: "The demolition of these buildings will make way for an important public building where agencies will work together and deliver justice.

"Warwick Crown Court will be moving here. It will be sad but the current site hasn't got the facilities to deal with the county's justice system."