Dismay at plan to remove rural phone boxes

11:28am Sunday 18th May 2008

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TELEPHONE company BT wants to take out ten public phone boxes across Wear Valley because of falling demand.

Councillors are objecting to some of the cuts where they are in isolated areas with poor mobile reception.

BT told council planners that 90 per cent of people now have phones in the homes and 85 per cent have a mobile phone.

This means that 60 per cent of the country's 61,792 public payphones are losing money.

But Weardale councillor John Shuttleworth objected to the loss of the box at remote Ruffside, near Edmundbyers.

He told Wear Valley's development control committee: "There is very poor signal for mobile phones in this area.

"A lot of people are elderly and don't have mobiles."

Coun David Kingston wants to keep at box in his ward at Oakenshaw, near Willington.

He said: "Whilst BT say that a significant number of people have mobile phones, there is also a significant number who do not and these are often the elderly and most vulnerable.

"The mobile signal in Oakenshaw is not good. I suspect that a number of these boxes will be in remote rural locations where there is poor mobile reception."

Coun John Lethbridge pointed out that he had tried in vain to persuade BT to remove vandalised phone boxes on Proudfoot Drive and near The Aclet pub.

He said: "The irony here is that they are willing to do this elsewhere.

"In my ward they are nothing but a nuisance. They are vandalised and used by drug dealers."

The boxes on BT's hit list are: Ruffside, Edmundbyers; The Green, High Street, Witton-le-Wear; Hill End, Frosterley; Hartop Road, St John's Chapel; High Street, Tow Law; Thornley, near Tow Law; Inkerman Road, Tow Law; New Row, Oakenshaw; Bridge Street, Howden-le-Wear; and Copeland Road, West Auckland.