THE proposed removal of two BT telephone boxes in St Austell has been backed by the town council.

Councillors heard that BT was proposing to remove the boxes at the junctions of Carclaze Road and Agar Road, and Daniels Lane and Bucklers Lane on the grounds of lack of use.

The councillors were also told that both the boxes had been subject to anti-social behaviour complaints in the past.

The box at the junction of Carclaze Road and Agar stands beside the Tregonissey Lane End car park run by the town council, while the box at the junction of Daniels Lane and Bucklers Lane is next to Bethel Park which is owned by the council.

Town councillors agreed to support the removal of the two telephone boxes.

BT told us that it wasn’t able to comment on specific payphone consultations or closures, however, it did provide information regarding its payphone programme.

BT has around 10,000 operational public payphones across the UK. This is down from around 20,000 two years ago.

The company said that with 98 per cent of the adult population using a mobile phone and significant improvements to mobile coverage, there has been a huge decline in the usage of payphones across the UK. Calls made from its public telephones have fallen by around 90 per cent in the past decade.

The company said: “We’re continuing to review our remaining estate of payphones – removing those that are no longer being used, in line with Ofcom’s revised guidance on payphone removals, which involves proposing plans to the local authority. There are a range of things that are considered – such as kiosk location, usage, availability of other payphones nearby, mobile signal nearby etc.

“Following our proposals, local authorities can make representations to us and provide evidence for consideration before a final decision is made.”