AT LEAST 11 public phone boxes will be scrapped in the district including a traditional red kiosk.
British Telecom (BT) proposed to scrap 28 public pay phones following a 90 per cent decline in use. The communications giant said the phones would be retained under the conditions they were used more than 12 times a year, were the only pay phone within 800 metres and within 1km of villages of no less than 500 homes.
Following a consultation it was decided, of the 28 proposed for scrapping by BT, 11 would be kept and six adopted by the community.
Reasons for retaining the pay phones included poor mobile phone reception, elderly residents without mobiles and for emergencies.
Among the most used were pay phones in Drayton Avenue and Birmingham Road in Stratford.
The rest have been agreed for removal including a heritage kiosk in Ettington since just five calls were made in the past year.
Five of the remaining red pay phones will be adopted by the surrounding communities and calls from BT to scrap the remaining three red kiosks were rejected.
Phone boxes are not being removed where there is no mobile coverage or in accident and suicide blackspots.
A Stratford District Council report into the proposal acknowledged public payphones provided an important service and were often regarded as key features but added, with the rise in communication technology, there was a ‘marked decline’ in their use.
