Public phone boxes facing the axe

Some phones will be removed without consultation because others are nearby

Forty-one public phone boxes are facing the axe in west Devon.

BT said it wanted to remove phones, including boxes in Hexworthy, Whiddon Down and Weir Quay, because they were not commercially viable.

West Devon Borough Council said many of the phones were still vital because they were at accident blackspots or where mobile phone signals were poor.

The proposed closures are now up for public consultation until the beginning of September.

BT said that 25 of the boxes were typically used less than once a month.

The council said it was urging local people to speak up about the phone boxes they felt were valuable across the area, and added that it was already canvassing opinion from parish councils.

BT said it had also identified another six phone boxes in west Devon which would be removed without consultation because there was another one within 400m (440yds).