One of the country's senior judges has been summoned to sit as a juror in a criminal trial as part of a government initiative designed to make the middle classes play a greater role in the justice system.

Lord Justice Dyson, of the Court of Appeal, is the first High Court judge and possibly the first member of the judiciary to be called to jury service. He will lead the way for thousands of other members of the legal profession, the clergy, the police and armed forces, who are all now eligible to sit as jurors.