Outcry at plan to ditch phone boxes

May 19 2008 by Neil McKay, The Journal

PEOPLE living in rural parts of County Durham last night appealed to BT to cancel plans to remove phone kiosks.

The telephone company has informed Durham County Council of plans to axe 10 kiosks in remote areas, including two at Tow Law and one at the adjoining hamlet of Thornley, as well as others at St John’s Chapel, Oakenshaw and Howden le Wear, the Hill End picnic area at Frosterley, Witton le Wear, Copeland Road in West Auckland and Ruffside, near Blanchland, Northumberland.

Last night locals warned that some of the kiosks were out of mobile phone range, and that their removal could endanger the public.

The fears echo similar concerns in Northumberland, where BT published a hit-list of kiosks in Alnwick district that it wishes to remove this summer.

At Ruffside, between Blanchland and Edmundbyers and close to the Derwent Reservoir, residents Ken and Judith Bullerwell said yesterday it was vital that the phone kiosk yards from their front door was maintained.

Mrs Bullerwell, 60, a retired care home manageress, said: “There is no mobile signal here and we live in an isolated area. Just the other day a young woman knocked on my door asking if we had any change so she could phone her husband. She was in a car with her young child and had got lost on her way to Stanhope.

“She could not use her mobile and was getting very anxious. I told her to use my phone, but if we hadn’t been at home she would have been stuck.”

Her husband, 62, an agricultural contractor, added: “It always seems to be country facilities which are first to go, such as phone boxes and post offices.

“There is no mobile phone signal for five miles from here, so keeping the phone box could literally be a lifesaver. This area is busy with visitors such as ramblers and cyclists in the summer and the phone is essential.”

Local county councillor John Shuttleworth said: “This is another example of a big corporation reducing services in the countryside, but I will be fighting the proposals tooth and nail. I have already written to BT firmly opposing the closures.”

The closure plans are currently subject to a 42-day consultation.

A BT spokeswoman said checks can be made on how many calls are made to emergency services from a particular kiosk.

She added that BT would take seriously all representations made by local people during the consultation, and that a box would not be removed where a social need was proved, such as if it was at an accident blackspot.

Consideration would also be given to whether there were other boxes within a reasonable distance.