Cartoon legends Spiderman, Batman and Donald Duck face the full force of the law at Oxford Crown Court

The list of accused to appear before His Honour Judge Pringle, Honorary Recorder of Oxford on Saturday started with Donald Duck at 10am followed by Bugs Bunny and Spiderman.

The courts in the Oxford building were scheduled to see other notorious characters from the cartoon screen and included Iron Man, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Superman, the Joker and Cat Woman.

However the regional court's unusual caseload did not attract huge crowds and lawyers and barristers stood down as the court's most unusual schedule was unmasked.

"This was a day of cases scheduled to test out a new electronic system in the courts," said a spokesman for Oxford Crown Court.

The court clerk said the new system needed to be tested but could not be done with a 'live' list of defendants. So the rehearsal was designed for a weekend day when the courts were empty and the inventive schedulers came up with a list of their own favourite characters.

"The test went well and all defendants were released on licence," said the clerk.