A PLANNING application was submitted to the county council to remove eight phone boxes across Northumberland.

BT submitted two applications to remove phone boxes no longer in use in Haltwhistle and Allenheads, along with a further six applications across the rest of the county.

An email submitted by BT as part of the application said: "To make sure that the local community are fully informed, we’ve placed notices (including the posting date) on these payphones."

BT said if residents think the phone box should stay in use, to contact the local authority within 90 days. This 90-day period will end on December 3.

It added: "Communities can ‘adopt’ phone boxes to turn into something completely different. With payphone usage falling, communities are looking at new ways of using them. Thousands of boxes have been reinvented as cafes, mini-libraries, and defibrillator sites.

"Communities can adopt most red boxes for just £1. They can also adopt modern glass boxes if they want to house a defibrillator. Visit bt.com/adopt for more information. You can make representations in the next 90 days until December 3.

"We’ll take account of representations you make about our plans when we’re making our final decision. We’ll also write to you the reasons for our decision (we’ll also publish the reasons on www.bt.com/payphones/service). If you’ve got any questions or want to make representations, please email us at btp.authorisation.team@bt.com."

The phone boxes were assessed using the criteria in Ofcom’s review of the telephony universal service obligation. 

Haltwhistle Town Council objected to the proposal to remove the phone box.

A spokesperson for the council submitted a comment on the application which said: "The Town council object to the removal of the phone box at Townfoot. As this area is at the far east of the town, members feel it is an important asset for the many houses in this area. In light of recent storms where people had no access to phones once the electricity was cut off, members feel keeping the phone boxes is of utmost importance."

Groups which can adopt a phone box are:

  • Recognised local authority (e.g. District or Borough Council)
  • Parish, Community or Town Council (or equivalent)
  • Registered charity
  • Private landowner with a phone boxes on their land
  • BT can’t allow private individuals to adopt kiosks unless they own the land the kiosk is on.