York may lose pay phones (From York Press)

York may lose pay phones

5:57am Monday 5th November 2007 in News By Press reporter

THERE are fears for the future of public phone-boxes in York, after council officers rejected plans to install new kiosks.

BT has had four applications for the new phones rejected by City of York Council, on the grounds that they are out of keeping with the city's character.

The new phones, which would have replaced existing boxes in Clifford Street; Fulford Road; St Maurice's Road; and Queen Street, would have included large adverts on one side, which BT say is essential to finance the upkeep of public phones.

But Leigh Weston, of the council's design, conservation and sustainable development unit, said the kiosks would be incongruous with their proposed locations and the council's refusal now places a question mark over the kiosks' future.

In the application, BT's agent Nathan Still wrote: "With the substantial increase in usage of mobile phones, the use of BT payphones has fallen significantly over recent years, to a level whereby many of the existing facilities are no longer viable.

"BT Payphones are committed to retaining the overall service and are constantly looking at innovative ways of achieving this. The new kiosk will incorporate an advertising panel. Revenue from this service will contribute towards the retention of a payphone at this location and help support the overall viability of the service."

City centre councillor Brian Watson, whose ward includes St Maurice's Road and Clifford Street, said: "If there is a concern about advertising, I would probably agree with officers. You have got to be careful what you put in the city centre, and we have had trouble with adverts before."

He said BT had been unco-operative in the past, such as when the council wanted to move boxes where there had been antisocial behaviour.

A BT spokeswoman said: "At this point, we have not got plans to remove the existing payphones at all."