BT to allow councils to 'adopt' red telephone boxes » Communities » 24dash.com

BT is to allow local councils to "adopt" red telephone boxes to keep them in towns and villages even if phones are removed because they are not used enough, it was announced today.

The telecoms giant said it had reviewed its policy of removing the familiar boxes and will let authorities adopt or sponsor them.

Councils will be asked to pay an annual fee of £500 to keep a phone inside the box, around half the annual cost to BT.

BT said: "During the consultation process around removing unprofitable payphones, a number of suggestions have been voiced by local people and local government.

"We have listened to these suggestions and can now confirm that local authorities that wish to maintain red telephone boxes - minus the telephone equipment - for aesthetic or heritage reasons will able to do so.

"In addition, local authorities that have requested to contribute to maintenance costs to retain a red telephone box with a working telephone will also be accommodated."

BT said it will not remove any red kiosks between now and October 1, the deadline for local authorities to submit their application to adopt or sponsor a kiosk.

At its peak, in 2002, there were around 95,000 BT payphones across the UK, but 31,000 have been removed since then as the growth of the mobile phone has meant payphone usage has declined very rapidly.