TELEPHONE chiefs have denied reports that some payphones facing the axe may have won a reprieve.

BT Payphones' announcement that it wants to disconnect 664 of the region's network of 4,121 public phones because they are not paying their way has provoked oppositions from politicians of all shades.

The outcry has been loudest in isolated rural areas where a payphone may be the only public form of communication for miles around.

The company has dismissed reports that it has agreed to save some kiosks, saying that no decision has been taken yet.

Independent Durham County councillor for Weardale John Shuttleworth objected to the proposed removal of two remote phone boxes in his area.

He received a letter from BT's payphone complaints department saying that the kiosks "have been placed on hold as a result of objections raised. We will not proceed any further with our intentions to remove these payphones until they are reviewed again in light of the objections received".

But a regional company spokesman said it was too early to say that any phones had been saved.

"There is a consultation process and we have not taken any decision yet. To say it is a stay of execution is a little bit premature because we haven't decided that they are to go.

"It is fair to say that, where there is opposition and where we can't reach agreement with local representatives, then that box won't be recovered.''

Coun Shuttleworth said isolated rural phones could be a "lifesaver'', particularly in winter and in areas where mobile phone network coverage was patchy.

Fiona Hall, the Liberal Democrat MEP for the North-East, has written to Tim O'Sullivan, the head of UK public and parliamentary affairs at BT, protesting at the plans.

She said: "I am particularly concerned about the effects of removing payphones from isolated rural locations where mobile phone coverage remains poor and unreliable."