Plans to convert London’s Middlesex Guildhall into a new Supreme Court building are in direct conflict with the Government’s policy of protecting listed buildings, the High Court was told today.

The preservation watchdog Save Britain’s Heritage urged a judge to overturn a decision by Westminster City Council last November giving planning permission for the project, which involves the stripping-out of much of the interior fabric of three existing courtrooms.

Joseph Harper, QC, told Mr Justice Collins that Government guidelines stressed a “general presumption in favour of the preservation of listed buildings” and continuation of their existing use if they were not redundant.

The interests of a building - in this case, a Grade II listed Crown Court in constant use - were superior to “the aspirations of the developer”, he said.

Yet none of these and other policy considerations was put to the council’s planning committee which, as a result, gave no proper reasons for its decision.

Mr Harper said the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, had made up his mind in advance of the Constitutional Reform Act under which the Supreme Court was to be created that Middlesex Guildhall was the preferred location.

This was based on its specific location - across Parliament Square from the Palace of Westminster - its fitness with the requirements of the Supreme Court and its “value for money,” he said.

“No private developer would have got away with stating that he wanted to interfere with a Grade II listed building on the ground that this was the cheapest option available to him,” said Mr Harper.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs says the introduction of a Supreme Court for the UK “will provide greater clarity in our constitutional arrangements”.

This will be achieved by moving the Law Lords - the highest appeal court for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - from the Palace of Westminster to a new location, thus “further separating the judiciary from the legislature and the executive”.

The new court will also become the home of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council - currently based in Downing Street - the final court of appeal for parts of the Commonwealth.

Opponents of the Government’s choice of the Guildhall have described the proposal as nothing short of “vandalism” that would lead to the loss of the building’s fine interiors.

Designed by JGS Gibson and completed in 1913 for use as a court, Middlesex Guildhall is widely-regarded as the finest secular gothic revival building in the country.

The court challenge is being resisted by Westminster Council. The Lord Chancellor and Ruth Kelly, Communities and Local Government Secretary, are being represented as interested parties.

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