FURIOUS customers hit out at BT today after the communications giant revealed plans to dismantle almost 300 North Yorkshire phone boxes - more than 30 of them in York.

The company is to consult on removing a total of 33 in the city, as part of a nationwide programme of reductions.

Payphones in Lord Mayor's Walk, Foss Islands Road and Rougier Street all face the axe, with BT blaming mobile phone ownership for a drop in calls and revenue from boxes.

Across North Yorkshire, 297 of the 1,805 BT payphones could be removed following consultation with local authorities.

BT said today it was still "committed to the service". But that argument cut little ice with civic leaders and consumers, who branded the planned cuts as "astonishing".

The news came less than a fortnight after it was announced that seven city post offices could also be shut as part of a separate cost-cutting programme.

At the payphone near King's Square, in Colliergate, customers using the phone said they were unhappy to hear of BT's plans.

Andrew Cope, of Fossway, said he regularly used payphones in town. He said he had a mobile phone, but found payphones to be cheaper.

"This is a bad move as far as I am concerned," he said. "I use a phone box whenever I am in town. You need one, for emergencies if nothing else."

Andrew Waller, the council's deputy leader, said the authority would carry out a review and would make representations to BT in areas where communities were left without a phone box.

He said: "We are concerned generally about the cutbacks in public services. There is the issue of the post offices and now this has come along.

"We will be reviewing where these phone boxes are and if the community is left without a phone box, we will be making representations to keep them."

Sally Hutchinson, of Age Concern, in Walmgate, said: "On the back of the news about post offices, it seems that no one is talking to anyone else about the impact this is having.

"These phone boxes are vital in an emergency."

York MP Hugh Bayley said: "There will be some reductions, but members of the public who are concerned about particularly payphone closures should contact me and explain how the loss would affect them directly."

Paul Hendron, director of BT Payphones, said: "We recognise that people may 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."

Updated: 10:35 Wednesday, September 01, 2004