The newspaper has revealed that the number of claims fell from a high of 6,484 in 2013 to just over 4,500 in 2016.

The percentage of legal aid cases in the Magistrates’ Court has remained consistent over the period. Between 2012 and 2016, 108,000 (47 per cent) of more than 230,000 cases were funded by legal aid.

Almost 37,000 of those hearings went to a contest, with an average of seven sittings per case.

The average cost for a Crown Court case in the last five years was £4,550, while it was just £601 for a Magistrates’ Court case.