Ghaziabad, Sep 10 (IANS): Lawyers staged a protest outside central Minister V.K. Singh's house here Wednesday demanding his support to their demand for an Allahabad High Court bench in western Uttar Pradesh.

Ghaziabad Bar Association president Anil Pandit said lawyers from 22 districts of the region had been campaigning for the bench but successive central governments had ignored the demand.

Wednesday's protest was part of a call given Aug 22 at Aligarh by the "Lawyers Struggle Committee" to press local MPs to support the lawyers in the region.

Addressing the demonstrators, Singh, who represents Ghaziabad in the Lok Sabha, promised to seek an appointment for a delegation of lawyers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

To underline their difficulties, a senior lawyer, Surendra Rathi, said Allahabad was 800 km away "while Lahore is closer".

"We are unable to get seats in trains for night journey to Allahabad. Most visits are futile because courts are adjourned without hearing the case," he said.

"At present over six lakh cases are pending in the Allahabad high court. Western UP residents are deprived of justice."