Charity maps out new future for beloved red phone boxes

They have been an iconic sight in towns and cities since the 1920s.

But the huge growth in mobile phones is ringing the changes for the traditional red public telephone box, which is increasingly becoming redundant.

Now they are being put to new uses while keeping their distinctive and fond place as part of the street scene. And that is the plan for three kiosks in Canterbury, for which planning applications for changes of use have just been submitted.

The phone boxes in North Lane and Longport, which are of the K6 design and date back to the 1950s, are expected to be equipped with vending machines for a charity that supports the homeless.

The applications have been lodged by the Giving Hands Charity Trust and, if agreed, will see the telephones removed and machines selling tourist maps of Canterbury installed.

BT, which approves of the new use, says it will also mean the kiosks are maintained, keeping their much-loved appearance.

Spokesman Ian Reed said: “All three red kiosks are currently still in use but if planning permission is granted for the alternative use of the payphones, BT will transfer ownership of the kiosks to the charity, under the ‘Adopt a Kiosk’ scheme.

“There are other payphones nearby, which there are no plans to remove.”

More than 2,300 red boxes have been saved across the country for alternative uses, becoming galleries, information booths, wildlife centres and mini libraries.

In Brighton, a box has been converted into a mini café called Red Box Coffee, while another is an ice cream kiosk.

Picture: Chris Davey FM4765232 The kiosks today and in 1952, inset, when they were on the other side of the road