ANGRY town councillors have slammed British Telecom after the telecommunications company revealed nine of Kendal's phone boxes face the chop.

In a letter to Kendal Town Council, the telecom giant said it was "aware of its social obligation" so would guarantee to keep one loss-making kiosk in Oxenholme open. But of the remaining 33 public telephones in the town, it was planning to remove nine.

According to the company, the number of calls made from the 75,000 phone boxes throughout the UK has halved in the past three years. It also claims 27,000 of the kiosks are running at a loss which has led to the closure of hundreds of boxes around the country.

During a meeting of the council on Monday night, members were told that they could not oppose plans to remove two of the phone boxes (on the junction of New Road and Blackhall Road and Peppercorn Lane car park) because they are within 100 metres of an alternative.

The council was invited, however, to consult with BT on the remaining seven which are located at: Mintsfeet Road; the junction of Parkside Road and Lound Road; the junction of Dockray Hall Road and Burneside Road; Bellingham Road; the junction of Brigsteer Road and Greenside; Crescent Green and Romney Gardens.

One of the planned removals is at the old people's bungalows on Crescent Green but Coun Tom Clare argued this would be a safety issue. "The fact that the majority of people have mobile phones is not the point," he said. "By and large the people who don't have a mobile are elderly."

After the meeting, Coun Marilyn Molloy said she was "completely mystified" by the latest announcement as the council had entered into a long petitioning exercise with the company to save boxes when a first round of public telephone box closures was announced. She said the latest letter to the council made no mention of that dialogue and it was as if the whole process was starting again.

BT press officer Les King said that the area's phone boxes had since come under review and that the company would like to reduce the number of phone boxes in Cumbria by 255. "Things change over time," he said. "The council have a 42 day period to respond to the new plans and if in this time they do not, we shall go ahead with the removals."

Paul Hendron, director of BT Payphones, said: "We recognise that people have concerns about our plans to reduce the number of payphones, but I would like to reassure them that BT is still committed to the service, particularly for the communities who need us most. We will manage the changes sensitively through extensive consultation with local representatives."

The council agreed to write to BT in opposition of the plans.

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