BT to remove 20,000 public phone boxes

More than 20,000 phone boxes across the country are due to be taken down by BT following a 90 per cent decline in their use over the past decade, it was revealed yesterday.

Half of Britain’s remaining kiosks will be scrapped to slash maintenance costs, with many falling into disuse, or having been vandalised and daubed in graffiti. While some 33,000 calls are still made from phone boxes a day, only a third of those still standing are ever used – with the number of calls made falling 20 per cent year-on-year.

Many of the kiosks that have been spared are traditional red iron boxes, 2,400 of which are Grade II listed buildings.