THREE condemned phone boxes in villages around York could get a new use with lifesaving medical equipment.

In October BT announced their plans to remove 26 phone boxes from around the city, including six traditional red boxes.

A consultation has been running with the city council, and it has now been revealed that at least three parish councils have stepped in to “adopt” the phone booths, and are planning to follow other villages’ suits by installed defibrillator equipment.

There are 116 payphones across the York council area, and when BT first revealed their plans a spokeswoman said they consider how often phones are used and how good the mobile phone signal is.

Usage has declined by as much as 90 per cent in the last decade. She said: “Where we receive objections from the local authority, we won’t remove the payphone.” Of the 26 earmarked for this round of closures, six are of the famous red K6 design - in Holgate Road, Wigginton, Dunnington, Stockton on the Forest, Hessay and Rufforth. Villagers in Wigginton could keep their red phone box, as the parish council is one of those that wants to install a defibrillator.

Communities in Huntington and Acaster Malbis want to do the same, for their more modern BT boxes.

The Rufforth box could also stay. The council is objecting to the removal of three, in Wains Grove, Dringhouses, Fellbrook Avenue, Acomb and Stockton-on-the-Forest.