End of line for phone boxes
One fifth of iconic red kiosks facing the axe as use plummets over years
ALONG with the Royal Mail postboxes and London buses, they form part of the British identity.
But despite once being commonplace, a fifth of Scotland’s phone boxes face the axe as use of the iconic booths dials down.
The proposals by BT have sparked fears the move could impact rural communities with poor mobile signal.
It has earmarked 650 around the country to be taken out of service. A previous programme saw about 1,500 axed – with hundreds then ‘adopted’ by their local communities for a variety of uses.
If this round goes ahead it would leave about 2,600 phone boxes – a reduction of more than 60 per cent since 2003.
The areas most affected by the latest removals would be the Highlands, where 110 are earmarked for closure and the Borders, which faces losing 95 payphones.
Figures released by BT show rural communities will bear the brunt of the cuts, with 38 proposed for closure in Argyll and Bute, 30 in Aberdeenshire and 37 potentially lost in Dumfries and Galloway.
That compares to a handful in the Central Belt, with just six earmarked for the axe in Glasgow, eight in Edinburgh and three in East Dunbartonshire.
BT stressed it was not proposing the removal of any payphones on the islands or in areas where there was no mobile coverage. Consultation on the plans will be carried out by the individual councils involved.
A BT spokesman said: ‘Most people now have a mobile phone and calls made from our public telephones have fallen by around 90 per cent in the past decade. We consider a number of factors before consulting on the removal of payphones, including whether others are nearby and usage.’
‘The need to provide payphones for use in emergency situations is also diminishing all the time, with at least 98 per cent of the UK having either 3G or 4G coverage.’
In May residents in the village of Pennan, Aberdeenshire, voted down proposals to upgrade telecommunications in the area.
Villagers claimed the mobile mast would ‘spoil’ the landscape and that visitors were attracted to the area, made famous in the film Local Hero, by the fact that it is a mobile signal blackspot.
David Duguid, Tory MP for Banff and Buchan, said: ‘The phone box in Pennan is iconic and a key reason why the village remains such a popular tourism destination.
‘At a time when we are trying to diversify our local economy, we should be promoting our attractions, not diminishing them. Villagers want to preserve the character and charm of the area, and the phone box is an important part of that.
‘If there is any suggestion this phone box is to be removed, then I would campaign strongly for its retention.’