A BRUSH with the law makes most people anxious - but the new Ipswich Crown Court was making people sweat more than usual this week.While the £14million building was designed to make the experience of attending court as easy as possible its first week has left people hot under the collar.

A BRUSH with the law makes most people anxious - but the new Ipswich Crown Court was making people sweat more than usual this week.

While the £14million building was designed to make the experience of attending court as easy as possible its first week has left people hot under the collar.

The building in Russell Road, which features huge windows and stainless steel panels, was more like a greenhouse as the temperatures in the region soared to 81F, 27C.

Barristers were the worst affected, having to wear their suits, gowns and wigs even as the building warmed up on Tuesday – the hottest day of the year.

Ross Taylor, court manager, said: "We have got the courts up and running. That's what we're here for so that's been a success. The building is a bit on the warm side though."

He said the high-tech facility had cooled down yesterdayafter the company that runs the building had "tweaked the system".

"It was very warm on Tuesdaybut it was very warm outside and I don't think any building will keep that well in those sorts of temperatures," he said.

"Nevertheless we found out that the foyer was the hottest part and the air handling unit had failed, so that was the cause of the excess heat.

"If the thing had not failed and was working properly and we still had the hot temperatures it would have been a big problem."

The building works on a TermoDeck system, whereby the concrete walls store up cool air on hot summer nights, which is then circulated round the building during the day cooling the inside.

When it is cold the whole building acts as a storage heater, keeping the warm air from the day, generated by body heat and lights, which then radiates out at night.

Mr Taylor added that he had a meeting with the builders yesterday morning, who said the system could do better.

However, he refrained from saying that he was confident the building would be cool on the summer's coming hot days.

Jonathan Ripman, East Anglian spokesman for the Law Society, said: .