A consortium led by support services company Amey has been named preferred bidder for a 拢130m PFI contract to build and maintain court facilities in the South-west over the next 25 years.
The deal is the first to involve more than one government department on the same PFI deal. The Home Office, Lord Chancellor's Department and Magistrates' Court Committee are jointly sponsoring the project, which will provide facilities in Bristol and Worle in north Somerset.

Michael Wills, parliamentary secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department, said: "The demonstration of joined-up working between officials of the Magistrates' Courts Committee, the Lord Chancellor's Department and those of the Home Office 鈥� shows the way forward for the criminal justice agencies."

A courthouse with 11 courts, a coroner's court, a probation service suite and communal office space will be built in Bristol. A smaller courthouse and office complex is planned for Worle.

The value of the design-and-build contract is 拢32m; facilities maintenance is expected to bring in about 拢1m a year.