Village Fury BT Plans to Axe Phone Kiosk With Only Nine Calls a Year

Sharrington residents fight to save their phone box. BT wants to disconnect the iconic red kiosk, which was the first outside London in regular use. Now, few remain across the area.

BT says the box only gets nine calls yearly and wants to disconnect it to cut costs. Locals see it as part of village life, helping elderly people connect. The last call was in December.

Derek Harris leads the fight against BT, calling it David versus Goliath. He has lived there for 50 years and says many are not tech-savvy, emphasizing the need for the phone box to stay open.

BT suggests turning the kiosk into something new, with ideas including a mini-library or a defibrillator case. But locals want it to stay a phone because mobile signal is poor in rural Norfolk, and walkers sometimes use it.

Harris believes BT makes enough money and should keep it running. He claims they will keep trying to prevent BT from removing this part of village history.

Ofcom rules prevent removal sometimes if the box is over 400 meters from another and meets one of four criteria. These criteria include poor mobile signal or many calls.

BT says the Sharrington box meets none of these. Steffan Aquarone supports the villagers, and the council seeks listed status for protection. The provider tried to remove it in 2016 but faced resistance and backed down.

BT states phone calls fell 90% in ten years. They review payphones and remove unused ones per Ofcom rules, and are talking to North Norfolk about removing the Sharrington phone box.