Call for consultation before BT ring phone box changes

A Perthshire MSP has urged local communities to engage with an ongoing consultation into red phone boxes.

Liz Smith, Conservative for Mid Scotland and Fife, was speaking following a meeting with BT officials regarding their plans to remove 25 red telephone boxes across the Perth and Kinross area.

Ms Smith said: “It is now very clear that BT is proposing to remove 25 red telephone boxes across Perth and Kinross – many of them in rural communities where connectivity is already weak.

“Whilst l fully understand that there are some boxes where there has been extremely low usage in recent years that should not be the only determining factor. It is vitally important to consider signal coverage and the remoteness of the community.

“I am therefore urging local communities to get in touch with the planning department of Perth and Kinross Council if they wish to retain their red telephone box as a lifeline.

“They should also get in touch with the council if they wish to change its usage.

For example, some local communities have made excellent use of phone boxes for the provision of a mini-library or a defibrillator.”

Among the list of phone boxes which could be axed are three in Perth, one in Crieff, two in Blairgowrie and two in Dunkeld.

Crieff’s James Square box is the busiest on the list for the upcoming consultation, and was used 219 times in the past 12 months.

Perth’s Priory Place box and the Invervar phone were used over 100 times last year.

The consultation process runs until November 2.