BT Payphone Removal

BT Payphones Proposed Removal (April 2025) - Have Your Say

British Telecom has started a consultation on their proposals to remove a number of the public payphone callboxes from within Stratford-on-Avon District. Thirteen payphones within Stratford-on-Avon District have been proposed for removal. The removal will include the phone box and the equipment – if the phone box is listed, the telephony will be removed, and the kiosk will be locked. The proposed kiosks are: ·

• Warmington ·
• Shotteswell ·
• Little Dassett ·
• Wilmcote ·
• Alderminster ·
• Wolverton ·
• Welford-on-Avon ·
• Coughton ·
• Wellesbourne (Chestnut Square) ·
• Charlecote ·
• Harbury ·
• Bishops Itchington ·
• Southam (Mayfield Road)

The consultation is now open until Tuesday 13 May 2025.

Responses can be made in relation to your local callbox by completing this short online survey form or alternatively email: consultation@stratford-dc.gov.uk. If you wish to comment on these proposals, please respond by 13 May 2025.

Communities may be able to ‘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. For more information on how you can do this, please see this brochure on Adopting a Kiosk from BT.

Reasons for removal by BT

BT says: "overall use of payphones has declined by over 90% in the last decade and the need to provide payphones for use in emergency situations is diminishing all the time, with at least 98% of the UK having either 3G or 4G coverage.

This is important because as long as there is network coverage, it's now possible to call the emergency services, even when there is no credit or no coverage from your own mobile provider. Phone boxes are not being removed where there is no network coverage, in accident black spots, and a number of other locations which meet criteria."

BT information about information monitoring: "It is essential that our services are provided fairly and that they reach the people who need to use them. The monitoring information we collect is vital to helps us understand who is using our services and who is not, having this information helps us improve services and reduce barriers to access. The information we collect will always be kept confidential and secure."